NORTH Herefordshire MP Ellie Chowns has failed in her bid to become co-leader of the Green Party.

Dr Chowns, whose constituency includes the area north of Brampton Abbotts, had partnered with current co-leader Adrian Ramsay MP on a joint leadership ticket for the party, running against London Assembly member Zack Polanski in a poll of party members during August.

The Green Party has now declared Mr Polanski the winner of the vote, with a landslide 20,411 member votes, compared to Dr Chowns’ and Mr Ramsay’s 3.705 votes.

Green Party chief executive Harriet Lamb said the contest had brought “packing hustings up and down the country” as well as online activity, adding that the party’s membership is currently at its highest ever figure of 68,500, “and continues to rise”.

This indicates that fewer than half of members voted in the leadership election.

Mr Polanski said he would “work every single day to deliver environmental, social, racial and economic justice, and to grow this party”.

He paid tribute to Dr Chowns for “the way she has held the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister to account over the ongoing genocide in Gaza”.

Mr Ramsay and Dr Chowns said in a joint statement: “We’d like to congratulate Mr Polanski and thank him for running such a strong and passionate campaign.

“We also want to thank every member who voted and all those who took part in this leadership election — on both sides.

“Our party is in the strongest position in its history. We’re winning record numbers of seats, reaching people in every community and from across the political spectrum, and showing that Green politics is rooted in the issues that truly matter.

“As MPs, we remain fully committed to playing our part: holding this government to account and championing the policies needed for a fairer, greener and more liveable future.”