The United Kingdom’s Green Party leader Zack Polanski, a 43-year-old self-styled “eco-populist” presenting himself as a progressive alternative to Keir Starmer’s governing Labour Party , is banking on a political breakthrough in British local elections this week.

More than 5,000 council seats will be up for grabs on Thursday as voters in 136 local authorities head to the polls, including in London and other major UK cities.

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According to polling group YouGov, the Green Party appears set to make major gains in the capital and could come first in as many as eight of London’s 32 councils.

The party’s ratings have steadily improved since Polanski was elected leader in a landslide victory in September last year.…