WORKERS PARTY deputy leader Chris Williamson quit the party in protest at George Galloway’s decision to contest the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

Mr Williamson, a former Labour MP, has come out in support of Green Party leader Zack Polanski, the main left challenger to Labour in the constituency.

“I have a huge amount of respect for George Galloway, but I believe we should get behind Zack Polanski on this occasion,” he wrote on social media.

“My firm view is that the left must collaborate to defeat the Labour Party, Reform UK, Conservatives and Lib Dems because these parties are all in the pocket of the neoliberal Zionist war machine.

“Zack is best placed to do that in this by-election.”

Mr Williamson’s defection is a blow to the Workers Party, since he was the most prominent politician in its ranks other than Mr Galloway himself.

Responding to the news, the Workers Party wrote that the Greens’ “shameless support for [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s Nato spearhead, and parroting the ruling class narrative exposes the true nature of the Green Party.

“That is, the Green Party are indeed ‘the left’… Of capitalism.

“This is why there can be no unity with the Green Party leadership. If the conditions to ‘collaborate’ with them dictate you bury your core socialist principles, then it’s a sure sign you should be exposing their collaboration with the class enemy.”

Speaking in Johannesburg, Mr Galloway highlighted his opposition to the Ukraine war and zionism, and described himself as an “ageing football star” looking to “play one last season” on a short-term contract.