Burnham too influenced by ‘vested interests’ to offer change, Polanski says

Exclusive: Green party launches pushback against idea that next PM will have more left-leaning agenda than Starmer Andy Burnham is “too in hock to vested interests” to offer real change, Zack Polanski has said as the Greens launched a pushback against the incoming prime minister, portraying him as cautious and weak on such areas as wealth taxes, Gaza and rent controls. Under Polanski’s leadership the Green party in England and Wales has more than tripled its membership, and is closely tracking Labour in opinion polls, with much of the new support coming from former Labour voters disenchanted with Keir Starmer’s approach. The Greens are planning a media blitz before Burnham replaces Starmer in Downing Street on Monday, aimed at countering the idea that Burnham will offer a notably more left-leaning agenda, arguing he has gone quiet on several policies he previously supported. In a social media post on Thursday, Polanski said the reported decision by Burnham to install Shabana Mahmood rather than Ed Miliband as chancellor showed he was “subservient to the City of London” and not up to the task of delivering change. A Green plan, seen by the Guardian, to highlight what the