Zack Polanski has said it would be “very tempting” to challenge Sir Keir Starmer in his North London constituency.

The Green Party leader, who won a landslide leadership election earlier this year, is a member of the London Assembly but not an MP.

Mr Polanski was asked about a poll that suggested his party could take the Prime Minister’s Holborn and St Pancras seat.

At last year’s General Election, the Prime Minister retained his seat he has held since 2015, with pro-Gaza independent Andrew Feinsten coming second with 7,312 votes, slashing Sir Keir’s majority by over 16,000 votes.

When asked by the BBC if he was interested in directly challenging the Prime Minister, Mr Polanski said: “It would be very tempting to take Keir Starmer down.

“But actually what I’m doing right now is really focusing on, right across England and Wales, growing the Green Party. We’ve just hit 175,000 members.”

The party has seen a membership surge, with more than 100,000 people joining since Mr Polanski took the reins at the beginning of September.

Mr Polanski continued: “I’m tempted to take on any Labour MP that’s a disaster, and ultimately replace them with a better MP who will stand for people and planet, rather than vested interests.”

The Green Party secured a defection from Labour this week, with former Brighton Kemptown MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle joining Mr Polanski’s party.

Mr Russell-Moyle, who did not stand in the 2024 election, said Labour has “left behind” millions of people who want to see change.

He said: “My old party has left behind millions of people who want hope and want to see change in their lives, their communities and the world around them. In the Greens I see a party that is offering that.

“In the Greens I see a party I have worked with for years and I am making the jump to join them today, I urge others to do so too.”

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Reacting to Mr Russell-Moyle’s defection, a Labour source said: “Labour is working every day to change the lives of working people for the better, not endlessly shouting from the sidelines. We’re making the fair choices needed to renew Britain.”

A recent YouGov survey put the Green Party on 17 per cent, level with Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives and just two points behind Labour.

Mr Polanski vowed to “replace” the Labour Government when he became leader, with the self-described “eco-populist” said last month he was talking to Labour MPs about defections.

This morning, Mr Polanski said scrapping the two-child benefit cap in the Budget would be a “victory” but urged the Chancellor to go further and “tax the rich.”

Mr Polanski told the BBC: “It’s absolutely outrageous it has taken the Labour Government so long to do it, but if they do do it, that’ll be a victory and I’ll celebrate it.

“More widely though, we know that this Chancellor will keep talking about tough choices.

“But they always seem to be tough choices for people out of work or working people who are working really hard while their wages aren’t going up but food prices are going up, for disabled people.

“When are we going to see tough choices for multi-millionaires and billionaires? It’s time to tax the rich.”

According to a YouGov poll published earlier this week, 20 per cent of Britons now having a favourable opinion of Mr Polanski, up three points since mid-October.

This is matched by 22 per cent of the public seeing Polanski unfavourably, giving him a near-even net score of -2.

Meanwhile, 30 per cent of Britons have a favourable opinion of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage against just over double (62 per cent) seeing him unfavourably, giving Farage a net favourability rating of -32.

Just 19 per cent of Britons now have a favourable opinion of Sir Keir Starmer, the lowest during his time as Labour leader, while 73 per cent see him unfavourably, the highest to date.