W ith the local election results now unfolding across the country — and the Greens making gains in London while Reform UK surges nationally — Independent readers are deeply divided over whether Zack Polanski’s party represents a credible progressive alternative or a new form of populist politics emerging on the left. The Greens secured one of the night’s biggest symbolic victories in the capital after Zoë Garbett won the Hackney mayoralty in what had long been considered a Labour stronghold, while the party is also on course for its best-ever local election performance nationally. The results reflect growing frustration among many younger and left-leaning voters with Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government, which suffered heavy losses overnight as Britain’s political landscape became increasingly fragmented.…