Polanski Walking Manchester.

No doubt about it, Zack Polanski has emerged as the golden boy of the left/far-left. Since becoming the leader Mr. Polanski has taken an almost obscure political party, the Greens, from more or less zero to heroes. Party membership has grown exponentially from a membership of 50,000 to 225,000. To say Zack Polanski has been the leader of the party for only 8 months, whether you like him or his policies or not, that's quite a feat.

Like Jeremy Corbyn and a more progressive Labour Party before him, Polanski has galvanised votes from urban, young, and ethnic minority voters. That's certainly what carried the Green Party's golden girl, Hannah Spencer, in the Gorton and Denton by-election to power. Now we follow Sky News as Mr. Polanski and Hannah Spencer walk the streets of Manchester, cameras follow them, there are handshakes with locals, and cars honk their horns as they drive by. In a safe Labour seat like Gorton and Denton, to quote Nigel Farage, Green candidate Hannah Spencer delivered a "political earthquake". Labour was wiped out, the Conservatives might as well not have turned up, and Reform UK, the Green Party's opposite on the right, came second.

As they walked along, Polanski told Sky News his oft-spoken diatribe that the Greens will replace Labour. That's a tall order. Labour right now is a wounded animal, and the Greens will take advantage of it. Polanski hopes that in the May local elections to gain hundreds of councillors. And if recent polling is to be believed, there's no reason why that shouldn't happen. At the next general election, Polanski hopes to gain 50 MPs. And while that might seem overly ambitious in a voting system that is only built for two parties, usually Conservative and Labour, all things are possible. But if Polanski wants to replace Labour ultimately, that is a big ask.

Political fortunes change, and in time Mr. Polanski may achieve this; time will tell. Of course, Mr. Polanski is not currently an MP. He is a councillor in London's City Hall. And while that gives him a powerful platform to be a future Prime Minister, and he hasn't ruled that out, he must be elected as an MP first.

As much as there is a good working relationship between Polanski and Spencer, one wonders if Polanski unknowingly or knowingly uses her as a prop. A prop or an example to bring people to the Green's cause. To show that Green MPs or would-be MPs are attractive, vivacious, intelligent, and progressive. That understands the lives of ordinary people facing inflation when it comes to bills and other highly expensive things. Polanski has been criticised for his not-so-good looks and mainly, his teeth.

In a visual world where we expect everyone to be immaculate, Polanski may fall short on that. Does he use the colourfully dressed Hannah to hide behind? This doesn't appear to be the case. Polanski is fully aware of how his enemies and the press mock him for his not-so-perfect dental work. Those who back him couldn't give two hoots about what he looks like. For them, it's his policies they like, and that's how it should be for all politicians.

Mr. Polanski doesn't think Starmer will last long. Obviously, the Mandelson affair has done damage to the Prime Minister. Polanski thinks Labour will have a disastrous showing in May's local elections. He thinks the current prime minister is living on borrowed time politically. The only person who would make Polanski lose sleep at night as a potential replacement for Keir Starmer and a dangerous opponent is the current Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham. Burnham is more progressive than Starmer, but Polanski admits that if it came to it, he would rather see Burnham as prime minister than Starmer. Would Polanski do a deal with Burnham, as Burnham is closer to Polanski's political stance in a hung parliament? That's one for the future certainly, based upon what happens in the time to come.

In London, where Polanski lives (Polanski was originally a Mancunian like Hannah Spencer), he thinks his party at the May local elections could capture the boroughs of Hackney, where Polanski lives, Lambeth, Lewisham, and Waltham Forest. As said in this article, Polanski's Greens could capture hundreds of council seats across the country in May's local elections.

The rise of Zack Polanski and the Green Party, in many ways, echoes Nigel Farage and Reform UK. Like Farage with Reform UK, who turned a protest party into a major party (Reform UK), so Polanski has done the same for the Green Party.

we