Pro-Gaza Muslim councillor Mothin Ali has been elected as the Green Party’s co-deputy leader alongside Rachel Millward.
The win makes Ali the only practising Muslim serving as a leader or deputy leader of a mainstream political party in England and Wales amid a growing climate of Islamophobia in the UK.
The Green Party is currently running at around 10 per cent in the Westminster voting intention polls.
Speaking to 5Pillars following his election success, Ali pledged to dedicate his role to fighting racism and the rise of the far-right.
“I’m honoured to take up the role of Deputy Leader and to have been given the trust of the members of the Green Party. Now it”s time to speak up against the racism and Islamophobia that is taking over our country – time to unite against the rise of the far-right and protect all marginalised communities.”
Ali ran on a campaign which centred on tackling the class divide and offering an alternative for working class communities who are currently being influenced by the far-right and anti-immigrant divisive politics.
The deputy leadership election ran alongside the party’s leadership contest, in which Zack Polanski was elected leader. Ali said he hoped to work closely with Polanski and Rachel Millward to deliver change.
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“We’ve got to take the fight to Labour,” he reportedly said. “We’ve got to make serious change and give people real hope and unity.”
Ali’s star has been rising fast since his success in being elected councillor for Gipton and Harehills, Leeds, 2024.
He won largely thanks to his pro-Palestine views amid nationwide anger over the genocide in Gaza. Ali went viral for dedicated his win to Gaza and thanking Allah (SWT) and his angels during his victory speech.
Just months later in July, Ali went viral again after he was filmed battling fires and assisting police during the 2024 Harehills riots. He was initially smeared by far-right accounts on X as being an “Islamist rioter” but his efforts became clear shortly afterwards, earning him the title: “The hero of Harehills.”
Then in September 2024, the Green Party voted to recognise Israel’s actions in Gaza as a genocide at their annual party conference, becoming the first major British political party to do so.
Mothin Ali played a key role in supporting the motion and ensuring it was passed successfully.
Green Party mobilising
Meanwhile, Zack Polanski won a thumping majority to become the new leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, securing 84.6% of the vote.
In his victory speech, Polanski said: “If you’re feeling hopeless, if you’re feeling in despair, if you’re feeling politically homeless, there is a political home for you. And I promise you, nothing will make you feel more inspired, more ready to get out there and more like we can turn our country around than joining the Green Party.”
He also took aim at Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying: “We will hold this Labour government to account. Because when we look at Keir Starmer and what this government have been doing, whether it’s the two-child benefit cap, the disability cuts, the genocide in Gaza, my message to Labour is very clear: we are not here to be disappointed by you, we are not here to be concerned by you, we’re here to replace you.”
Polanski also used his winner’s speech to condemn Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, branding them “charlatans,” and insisted the Greens were the real patriots because they welcomed asylum seekers through safe and legal routes.
The party said its membership had reached a record high of 68,500 during the leadership campaign, following an influx of new members.
A noticeable number of Muslims have started voting or standing as local candidates for the Green Party amid a boycott campaign against the Labour Party because of their pro-Israel stance amid the Gaza genocide.
Many British Muslims now feel politically homeless with Labour being considered “the party of genocide.”
The pro-immigration, planet-friendly and anti-war Green Party has become an option for some Muslims despite its reputation for support for the LGBTQ+ agenda.
However, the formation of the new socialist Your Party, headed by pro-Palestine independent MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana, will potentially undermine the Green’s momentum.
When asked about the possibility of an electoral packed or an alliance with Corbyn’s Your Party, Polanski said it was “too soon to talk about joining electoral coalitions,” but he was interested in working with “anyone who wants to challenge a failing Labour government and take on fascism and the far right.”
Polanski has positioned himself as a prominent figure on the left of British politics and is seen as a regular fixture on pro-Palestine platforms. However, he has been criticised for his past comments related to Zionism and his support for the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
Speaking to the Guardian in May, Polanski clarified his latest position.
“I grew up in a very Zionist household, raised to really believe that Israel was the centre of everything and must be defended at all costs. And that’s very different to my politics now, so that’s been a really hard journey, but I always caveat this with nothing is as traumatic as it is to live in Palestine.
“Of all the criticism I’ve received in my career as a politician, the most vicious has come from so-called mainstream Jewish communities. I very much identify as Jewish, I’m very proud to be Jewish, I’m very much involved in Jewish cultures, but I’m certainly not a Zionist, and that’s seen as the ultimate betrayal.”
