Andy Burnham backs out of Clapham Park rally as Zack Polanski bolsters borough campaigners

The man widely expected to be Britain’s next prime minister was billed to headline a rally in a south London park this morning. Andy Burnham never turned up. The crowd that gathered instead heard from the Green Party’s Zack Polanski.

Burnham, who won the Makerfield by-election on 18 June, had been advertised to headline an “Andy For Us” event at Agnes Riley Gardens, off Atkins Road, at 9.40am, in the run-up to the two Lambeth by-elections on 9 July.

Burnham did not appear, and no reason was given for his absence.

Pro-Palestinian campaigners at the scene speculated that he had got wind of the protest against his pro-Israel stance and chose to avoid the PR risk of a confrontation. One was blunter:

“You couldn’t make this stuff up, he completely bottled it.

Today was billed as Andy For Us, but he wasn’t there for them – well, definitely not here in Clapham Park, anyway.”

– Lambeth Votes Palestine campaigner.

His record on the issue is well documented.

Burnham joined Labour Friends of Israel in 2015, and during that year’s leadership contest he pledged that his first foreign visit as Labour leader would be to Israel.

His ties go back further still: in 2004 he accepted a trip to Israel funded by the country’s foreign ministry and Labour Friends of Israel.

Emma, a campaigner with Lambeth Votes Palestine and West Norwood 4 Palestine, was more measured, keeping the focus on the pledge.

Signing up to uphold Palestinian rights, oppose genocide and divest council pensions from companies complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law “should be the bare minimum” for any candidate, she told Brixton Buzz.

Lambeth’s newly elected council leader, Martin Abrams, who had signed the Vote Palestine pledge as a candidate, said he had been “extremely proud” to do so, and told the gathering:

“Politicians at every level have to stand up against the crime of all crimes.

Global issues are local issues – Lambeth is one of the most diverse, multicultural boroughs in the UK, we are a global borough. For anyone watching a live-streamed genocide, how can that not affect you?”

– Cllr Martin Abrams, leader of Lambeth Council.

It was the Green Party leader, Zack Polanski on his third trip to the borough, who spoke in Clapham Park in Burnham’s place.

Paying tribute to Abrams, he noted that both of them – the council leader and the national party leader, both Jewish – had been accused of antisemitism, a charge he linked to Lambeth Labour weaponising antisemitism during the May elections.

He told the assembled crowd:

“To have the government and the Labour Party misusing antisemitism dangerously against us makes me, as a Jewish person, less safe.

Antisemitism is a real issue, as is Islamophobia, as are all forms of racism, but it’s not challenged by misusing it, by trivialising it, or using it for political aims.”

– Zack Polanski, Green Party leader

Polanski went on to discuss the two by-elections on 9 July, urging the crowd to return the Greens’ Michael Ball in Clapham Park and Dario Goodwin in Streatham St Leonard’s, both with records in tenant unions and local campaigning.

This election, he said, was “not about Andy Burnham” but about “people who will turn up” for their community.

Brixton Buzz has approached the Labour Party for comment.

More Info

Local by-elections 9 July 2026

Lambeth Green Party Insta

Lambeth Votes Palestine insta

Jewish Voice for Liberation statement

The canidates who have signed the Palestine Pledge

Has your ward candidate signed the pledge? Read the full list