Green Party leader Zack Polanski did not vote in last week’s local elections in London, after the party said he ran out of time to update his address on the electoral register when a planned move fell through.
The party said Polanski had moved in as a lodger in rented accommodation, then was left without enough time to change the details before polling day. On 3 May, he had told Hackney mayoral candidate Zoë Garbett in a video, “you have my vote.”
The admission adds a new layer to a difficult week for Polanski, after the Green Party earlier this week said he may also have failed to pay council tax while living in a houseboat moored in an east London marina. The said a resident of a boat is liable to pay council tax when it is used as their sole or main residence. In an advertisement to sell the boat, Polanski’s partner described it as “our amazing home... for three years.”
The party has said Polanski lived in a room at a different London address, where he paid council tax, and had only stayed on the boat occasionally. On Thursday, Polanski said he had believed his mooring fees covered the bill. “I thought I had been paying monthly mooring fees and I presumed the council tax would be included in that,” he told broadcasters. “I also take responsibility - it's up to me to make sure that I pay the tax that I owe,” he added.
He said it was still not clear whether he actually owed the tax and that he had already contacted the council. “It's still not clear if I owe council tax or not. I've been in touch with the council,” he said. “Even if it turns out I don't owe anything, I will still pay the appropriate amount, because of the principle.” The marina falls under Waltham Forest borough council, where Polanski had last been registered to vote, at a building near the marina.
The party has also said Polanski ultimately failed to register to vote because of security concerns and the extra process required to register anonymously. A spokesperson said he had faced heightened intrusion and safety risk since becoming leader, and had been the target of antisemitic and homophobic abuse, with two arrests made in connection with abuse directed towards him. Earlier, the party had told a newspaper that he may have used a postal vote in Hackney after he was seen campaigning in Wales on polling day, before later telling the that was a miscommunication.
Waltham Forest Council said it was assessing the case and taking legal advice over complex factors unique to moorings. For Polanski, the questions now are not only about where he lives, but whether the paperwork around that life was ever brought into line with it.
