Polanski and Mamdani have put the ‘rizz’ back into politics

Kat Brown, The Independent

I wasn’t on the finest form on Thursday. The return of the Never-Ending British Grey after Wednesday’s briefest dip into spring had sent me into a porridgy slump. But even I was shocked back to life by a triple shot of razzle-dazzle from New York mayor Zohran Mamdani, Green Party leader Zack Polanski, and Hannah Spencer’s speech as she became the Green Party’s fifth MP. Is that charisma I feel, throwing its first shoots back into politics after a muddy old winter? Nigel Farage took the by-election loss in typically good part, describing it as a “victory for sectarian voting and cheating”. (Manchester Council has made it clear there was no irregularity.) What next, calling the people of Gorton and Denton to overthrow the town hall in protest?

Matt Goodwin had been a good candidate, Farage said. Just not good enough, as evidenced by the wag who redubbed him, “Matt Badloss”. The Greens’ victory was experienced vicariously by the many, many people who disliked Goodwin, who refused to take part in local hustings unless he could pack the room with supporters, had called for a tax on childless people, and was generally one of those people who “fail the club test”. Everyone bangs on about Farage passing the club test. Mamdani was out sweeping away snow after the blizzard, for heaven’s sake. The difference is that they also pass the party test. You’d want to go to any event they throw — as, so evidently, does Trump, who would clearly walk through fire to get an invitation from a cool New Yorker like Mamdani — which is not the case with Farage or Trump, who are charismatic pied pipers. They are the old man propping up the club, telling stories. Their charm lies in themselves alone and, as evidenced by their moronic subordinates, is not a transferable skill.

However, Polanski and Mamdani’s charisma extends to their teams and volunteers and, crucially, inspires their candidates. It doesn’t look good for Nigel “man of the people” Farage when the public face of his party is largely billionaires and former Tory MPs, while the Greens’ Hannah Spencer is a working-class plumber, and as she cheerfully said in her speech, a newly-qualified plasterer. But then, the right has been saying how the public has had enough of elites for the best part of 10 years. How nice to prove them correct, for once.

Mamdani and Polanski cut through because they are perfect for populism. They confront the Trumpian playbook with Hans Christian Andersen. Their MO is to be the little boy calling out that the emperor has no clothes on. They are knowledgeable and absolutely will not play the game of playing nice when Farage or Trump spreads “misinformation”. And they are excellent communicators. Where Farage, Trump and yes, Starmer, address, they have a conversation. It’s almost embarrassing that talking to voters seems revolutionary, but Mamdani’s ability to chat to anyone reminded New York voters of what their city means.

And both leaders have made a point of cheerfully and clearly pointing out when rhetoric is nonsense. Polanski almost seems to break the fourth wall when interviewed on TV. As he said to Anna Jones and Kamali Melbourne on Sky News this morning, when asked to respond to Farage’s statement: “Nigel Farage and Reform are spreading misinformation and smears, and the press and the media seem to repeat them.” The usual deadpan of both presenters fell in surprise.

So too, Mamdani called Trump a “despot” in his electoral campaign, with Trump returning the favour to call him a “communist”. Put the two men in a room, however, and — as memorably happened in November, Trump purrs. Who can forget the jaw-dropping scene of their first meeting in November, when Mamdani was asked if Trump was a fascist and the president replied with a smile and a tap on his arm, “That’s ok, you can just say yes. It’s easier than explaining.”

On Thursday, Mamdani casually dropped even more of his New York razzle-dazzle on the public. Elaina Aghayeva, a Columbia University student, had been detained by ICE that morning. Mamdani posted on social media saying that he’d just had a phone call with Trump, having raised his concerns about her in their meeting, and Trump said she was being released imminently.

A dazed Aghayeva posted to her Instagram story saying she was in complete shock and in an Uber on her way home. Mamdani also apparently gave Trump’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, the names of four more detained students to look into. All because earlier, he had presented the president with mocked-up front pages showing the likely response should Trump okay building in New York (Trump was delighted). My God. How did we ever call Starmer a “Trump whisperer”?

There was no showboating from Mamdani about this. No, it’s even more deadly to the Republicans, and to the Conservatives and Reform over here: it’s acting straight across the board. No reactiveness, no gimmicks, just acting like an adult.