Zack Polanski requested that the Greens’ ruling executive committee postpone the party’s imminent annual conference so they could focus on the Holborn and St Pancras byelection but was refused.
While party officials say the formal request came from staffers worried about diluting resources by staging a conference a week before Polanski tries to win Keir Starmer’s former Commons seat, the Guardian understands the party leader wanted this to happen.
In the end, the executive committee of the Greens in England and Wales, which has about 25 voting members including Polanski, voted against the plan on Thursday.
The party expects about 3,000 people to attend what would be its biggest gathering, beginning in Brighton on 2 October.
Calling off the event at such short notice would have cost the party a significant sum given it has rented a conference venue, and risked annoying members who have taken time off work and booked travel and hotels.
The byelection, in which Polanski hopes to challenge for a traditionally safe Labour seat, takes place on 8 October, just four days after the conference finishes.
The end of a byelection campaign is traditionally marked by parties trying to canvass as many voters as possible. Having thousands of the Greens’ most active members gathered somewhere else for the final weekend greatly complicates their operation.
Some Greens have also speculated that Polanski would have preferred to fight the byelection before the party votes on a contentious policy motion at its conference, which sets out a motion on Zionism.
Polanski is under pressure to take a stance on the motion, which came top of a members’ vote of policy motions to be debated at the party conference, and is thus almost certain to feature.
The Greens make party policy by member votes at conferences. If passed, the motion would equate Zionism – the movement for a Jewish state in Palestine – with racism and would call for a single Palestinian state. Members who support Zionism would risk being disciplined for racism.
A number of Greens fear passing the motion could alienate Jewish supporters. Polanski, who is Jewish, has not given a public opinion on the issue, but is understood to support a pair of amendments that would tone down the motion.
A Green party spokesperson said: “The party was exploring different ways of allocating our resources effectively while fighting the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. One possible option was to postpone our conference.
“After discussion we remain committed to running an incredibly ambitious Holborn and St Pancras byelection campaign and holding what will be our biggest ever party conference.”
