The Greens Can Recover Momentum Against Burnham's Labour by Holding Their Left Course on Palestine and Economics
Source: Daniel Finn. "The Green Party Will Regain Momentum if It Keeps Its Nerve." October 21, 2026. jacobin.com
The Gist
The author says the Greens' by-election loss was just what the polls predicted, and that Labour under Burnham is temporarily winning back voters with left-sounding talk that his actual appointments and policies don't back up. If the Greens stay on their left course, including on Palestine, rather than panicking and moving to the centre, they can win support again as that gap becomes obvious.
Conclusion
The Green Party under Zack Polanski will regain momentum if it holds its nerve, resists pressure to retreat to a conventional centrist position (including over its Zionism motion), and exploits the gap between Andy Burnham's rhetoric and his government's actual policies.
Premises
- The Greens' defeat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election was the predictable result of national polling, not a game-changing disaster: Labour's lead over the Greens grew from under 5 points in February to almost 15 by September.
- Burnham's new left-sounding rhetoric (a break from forty years of neoliberalism, a harder line on Israeli settlements) has temporarily appealed to Labour's target voters, and has reduced the political space for the Greens. This is partly a product of the Greens' own earlier success in pressuring Labour.
- Burnham's substance does not match his rhetoric. He reappointed figures like Pat McFadden, chose the orthodox John Healey as chancellor over Ed Miliband, ruled out sanctions on Israel and condemned BDS, and capitulated to Israel over the East Jerusalem consulate.
- Because the gap between Burnham's promises and his record will become visible as his government governs, new openings will appear for a party that challenges Labour from the left.
- The Greens' earlier gains (the Gorton and Denton by-election win, overtaking Labour in projected vote share in May) came from a left-populist agenda that included solidarity with Palestine, so retreating from that agenda would make those gains ephemeral.
- Critics within the Greens, who never wanted to challenge Labour from the left, and a hostile media are exploiting the by-election result and the Zionism motion to push the party back to a conventional, unthreatening politics.
Assumptions
- Voters who moved to the Greens did so largely because of the party's distinctive left-populist and pro-Palestine positions, not despite them.
- Burnham's government will in fact fail to deliver on its transformative rhetoric in ways voters will notice.
- The by-election loss reflects temporary national polling dynamics rather than a lasting rejection of Polanski's approach.
- Media criticism of the Zionism motion is hypocritical and in bad faith, so it should not be treated as a sign of genuine electoral damage.
- The Greens' prospects depend mainly on their strategic choices rather than on external factors such as tactical voting against Reform.
- A more conventional Green approach would not win back voters but would only sacrifice the party's distinctive appeal.