Polanski begs Green activists for help as he faces defeat in Holborn by-election tomorrow amid party anti-Semitism row

Published: 04:42 EDT, 7 October 2026 | Updated: 05:48 EDT, 7 October 2026 Zack Polanski has begged Green activists for help as he faces a likely defeat in his attempt to become an MP. The party leader issued a late-night call for aid in his personal quest to replace Sir Keir Starmer in Thursday's Holborn and St Pancras by-election.Posting a lonely image from a housing estate he asked them to 'come campaign with us tomorrow', with polls suggesting he will lose to Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali.Polanski has put more effort into his London campaign than his appearance at the party's annual conference in Brighton last weekend.He left after delivering a speech on Friday, having reportedly failed to get the whole thing cancelled to allow activists to help him in London instead.It also allowed him to be absent for the massively damaging vote to pass a 'Zionism is Racism' policy which has seen the Greens reported to the police.Last night it emerged that the Green Party member behind it has links to an al-Qaida terrorist serving jail time in the US. The party leader issued a late-night call for aid in his personal quest to replace Sir Keir Starmer in Thursday's Holborn and St Pancras by-election He has seemingly put more effort into his campaign in London than he put into his appearance at the party's annual conference in Brighton last weekend Lubna Speitan (speaking) was described in US court documents as a 'close friend' of an al-Qaida terrorist who plotted to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow AirportLubna Speitan was described in US court documents as a 'close friend' of an al-Qaida terrorist who plotted to carry out a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow Airport.Ms Speitan offered to give evidence in defence of Minh Quang Pham, a UK citizen jailed for 40 years in the US for supporting Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula in 2011.Pham admitted three counts of terrorist-related activity based on his support for the group, Scotland Yard said at the time, though he denied that he ever intended to carry out his plot or harm anyone. No attack occurred.Mr Polanski abstained from the vote, having already left the conference to return to campaigning in Sir Keir Starmer's old constituency.In the wake of the vote, the Wales Green Party's deputy leader announced his resignation on Tuesday, and said that he had left the party after seven years.In a video published online, Phil Davies said he had been thinking about leaving for 'a couple of months', but that it was 'accelerated' by the 'Zionism is racism' motion.He branded the motion 'imperialistic' and 'idiotic', adding that it 'doesn't materially achieve anything in the real world'.