Harlow Green Party leader responds to news over local elections
Politics / Sun 18th Jan 2026 at 10:07am
THE LEADER of the Harlow Green Party has responded to the news that Harlow Council has requested that this May’s local elections be cancelled.
Jennifer Steadman said: “”Perhaps Dan Swords has cancelled the local election because he’s concerned at the Green Party’s surge in popularity since Zack Polanksi was elected as leader.
The growth of the Green Party has not gone unnoticed by the opposition here in Harlow with our own membership numbers having more than doubled.
“We work hard for the residents of Harlow and question Council regularly, always putting the needs of Harlow residents first.
“We will continue to do so until the next election is called.”
Mark
2026-01-18 11:17:38
Dan Swords scared of the Greens! You got to be joking. Greens don't even have a councillor in Harlow. Sure everyone is going to vote for a Party led by a crackpot boob enlargement hypnotist! Greens are just another bunch of crazy lefty wokes.
Robert white
2026-01-18 11:25:07
Dan does seem to have harlows interests at heart... its a shame he has decided to cancel elections.... maybe we should withhold our council tax as our right to vote has been taken from us because labour have taken our free speech and now our right to vote....
Vanda Mason
2026-01-18 11:40:39
Any change in voting procedures should surely be agreed with/by the electorate. If council decide by themselves, we're not being given fair choice. Isn't it a democratic right?
Reform is the Future
2026-01-18 11:41:57
The Greens are potentially a greater danger to this country than Labour. The only hope is Reform, but locally Dan Swords and his administration are doing a good job after years of neglect by Labour. The Greens would not be an improvement.
AB
2026-01-18 12:50:36
The Greens are our only hope against Trumpist fantasy politics, good luck!
John
2026-01-18 12:55:12
The Greens will only take votes from Labour. No way is any Tory or Reform supporter going vote for these zealots. A band of misfits.
David Forman
2026-01-18 14:15:23
Having sat in on a Green Party meeting on November 26 last year, I would say that the Harlow branch is not entirely in tune with Zak Polanski's recently acquired radicalism. Polanski's recent radicalism is akin to a Damascene conversion, given that he stood as a Liberal Democrat council candidate in 2015. We all remember how the LibDems betrayed university students during their sniff of power with David Cameron and were as popular as bubonic plague on the doorsteps in 2015. Those standing on a LibDem ticket in 2015 would need to be party loyalists, and so to make the transition to where Polanski is now requires an immense turnaround. I would suggest the emergence of Your Party encouraged the transition, especially as Polanski saw the Zarah Sultana effect at a public meeting both he and I attended in Woodford, bearing in mind this was just prior to the Greens conference in early October last year and before Your Party destroyed itself with internal squabbles. I would say Polanski is a good salesman who spotted a gap in the market and realised he needed to up his socialist credentials to grow the Green Party. Harlow Greens' unadventurous political agenda confirms my view that their party radicalism exists only at a marketing level, especially given its predominantly middle class membership.
David Forman
2026-01-18 14:31:22
A slight clarification to my previous comment: Zack Polanski was announced as a Greater London Assembly (GLA) LibDem candidate for the Barnet and Camden constituency in October 2015. In the May 2016 GLA local elections Polanski came fourth, nearly 6000 votes behind the Green Party candidate. See results at https://www.barnet.gov.uk/news/barnet-and-camden-constituency-gla-election-results-2016
Generic Comment
2026-01-18 22:44:45
Terrifying stuff, a Green talking about accountability. Much safer to stick with MPs from parties that have a long proven track record of delivering…checks notes...exactly the problems we’re all complaining about.
Voteforme
2026-01-19 10:22:56
Happy to have local elections deferred if it means Dan and co continue to improve Harlow. And how long has our Harlow council tax been frozen. Just wish his colleagues on ECC would act in the same way, can't even get our street lights working in the middle of winter.
Julie Bull
2026-01-19 12:54:26
Our November inclusive meeting was anything but "unadventurous" or "middle class." An opportunity to to connect with our community. We were proud to host Razed Roof, an incredible Harlow-based performing arts group for people with and without learning difficulties and disabilities. Their participation is central to our mission of social justice and ensuring no one is left behind. Far from being just "marketing," the Harlow Greens are active in practical, grassroots radicalism—from fighting the unwanted demolition of local garages to campaigning for genuinely affordable social housing and monitoring river pollution in the Stort. Our surge in membership—nearly doubling nationally by late 2025—is driven by people from all backgrounds who are tired of "briefcase politics" and want urgent system change. To clarify Zack Polanski’s Journey: Rather than a "sales pitch," Zack Polanski’s transition from the Liberal Democrats in 2017 reflects a wider movement of people who felt let down by mainstream politics. He has been an elected Green for longer than any current Green MP, serving on the London Assembly since 2021
Scott H
2026-01-25 22:12:57
The Greens’ theory that elections are being postponed by Cllr Swords because Green membership had doubled is pure fantasy, much like their policy platform. In the real world, Reform is predicted to win Harlow, because people are sick and tired of being forgotten and discounted by those in power….as Cllr Swords has yet again arrogantly demonstrated by cancelling their right to vote. Chair - Reform UK - Harlow and the Villages
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