New Greens leader 'ready' to win in Yorkshire

The new Green Party leader has said lowering household bills is his "relentless focus" as the party targets more seats across Yorkshire.

Speaking ahead of the party's annual conference, Zack Polanski, who was elected last month, said he believed the Greens were "ready" to win council and Parliamentary seats across the region.

Polanski said policies such as nationalisation of public utilities, tackling regional inequality and subsiding public transport "rather than petrol" would chime with Yorkshire voters.

The presence of a Yorkshire-based deputy leader - Leeds councillor Mothin Ali - would aid that cause, he added.

Polanski said it was "really important that the North has more Green MPs", with priorities extending beyond the party's traditional environmental message.

"I want the relentless focus to be on lowering people's bills, on tackling regional inequality, building new homes, funding our NHS and stopping water companies from pumping sewage into our rivers and charging us extra for the privilege," he said.

"These are all messages that will resonate in Yorkshire."

Polanski said Green Party membership has seen a sharp increase in recent months

Membership of the Greens recently passed the 80,000 mark, he said, marking a rise of a third "in the last couple of months".

Last year the party won a record four seats in Parliament, although none are covering constituencies north of Birmingham.

Polanski added: "I am absolutely committed to making sure we have at least one MP in the North, if not several.

"At next May's council elections I want to make sure in places like Bradford we're really growing, as well as Leeds and Sheffield.

"The Green Party were already going places, but right now we really have the momentum right across Yorkshire."

'Political choices'

Polanski said it was "outrageous" that public utilities were "run for profit" and pledged to nationalise gas, energy and water companies.

He said a combination of nationalisation along with a homes insulation programme would help to bring down people's energy bills.

The 42-year-old said cars being "cheaper than public transport" was a result of "political choices".

"If you live in a rural community in Yorkshire, you might be lucky if a bus comes every few hours, or even every day," he said.

"That's completely unacceptable. All these things need to be taken in the round and we need to make sure that from Westminster right down to councils we are subsidising the right things, rather than the polluting things."

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