Green party leadership race is between joint-MP ticket and deputy’s ‘eco-populism’ bid

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The battle to lead the Greens has been confirmed as a straight fight between a joint ticket comprising two of the party’s MPs, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns, and the more insurgent offering of Zack Polanski, the deputy leader.A final list of nominations to head the party in England and Wales has resulted in a two-way battle for the leadership, while nine candidates are vying to be deputy leader.Since 2021 the party has been led by Ramsay and Carla Denyer, two of the Greens’ record haul of four MPs elected to Westminster a year ago.In May, Denyer announced she would not stand again, with Ramsay opting to stand again alongside Chowns.The leadership race is broadly a competition between two contrasting styles: the more organised and elections-led approach of the two MPs, versus Polanski’s aim to make the Greens a radical, mass-membership “eco-populism” movement.

Polanski, who has been deputy leader since 2022 and serves as a London assembly member, said the party had to meet the challenge of Reform UK, which has a membership about four times the size of the Green party and won nearly 700 councillors in May’s local elections, against 79 for the Greens.Ramsay and Chowns have dismissed this implicit criticism, saying their record in winning rural, Conservative-dominated seats a year ago – Chowns won North Herefordshire from the Tories while Ramsay took the new seat of Waveney Valley on the Norfolk-Suffolk border – showed they could win over new supporters.Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionThe Greens in England and Wales normally hold leadership elections every two years, but there has not been a vote since 2021.Denyer and Ramsay were initially elected for three years, as their election was out of sequence after Siân Berry, now the fourth of the party’s MPs, quit a year after a vote.The contest was then postponed for another year because of the general election.

Voting by party members for the posts of leader and deputy leader opens on 1 August and runs for the whole month, with results announced on 2 September,Denyer decided not to run again for the leadership of the party, saying she wanted to focus on her Bristol Central constituency and campaigns such as net zero and affordable housing,The candidates for the deputy leadership include a number of councillors but are largely unknown outside the party,The hopeful with the highest profile is Mothin Ali, a Leeds councillor who intervened to stop rioters last summer and has received death threats for his vocal support for Gaza,
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Frittata, ‘egg and chips’ and a bean feast: Sami Tamimi’s brunch recipes from Palestine

What better way to welcome the weekend than with the smell and sound of herb-loaded ijeh frying? This is a thick, delicious frittata-like mixture of courgettes, leeks, peas, herbs and eggs, and in Palestine it’s often made with finely chopped onions, too. I always keep a couple of tins of ful (fava beans) in my pantry for those times when I crave a quick and satisfying late breakfast or weekend lunch. When simple toast and butter won’t do the trick and I’m in need of something more substantial and savoury, that’s when fava beans come to the rescue.You can substitute the eggs with feta for an extra-creamy and salty touch. Alternatively, the dish works beautifully as a vegan dish without the eggs

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Jam tarts and summer pudding cake: Nicola Lamb’s recipes for baking with mixed berries

First up, a crostata-inspired jam tart that’s perfect for afternoon tea or nibbling throughout the day. Fennel seeds in the buttery pastry give a subtle flavour surprise, although you could omit them, or try coriander seeds or ginger instead. A small batch of jam is surprisingly quick to make, but you can, of course, use shop-bought, or make use of one of those jars living rent-free in your cupboard. Then, a summer pudding-inspired cake that makes a delightful centrepiece – the juices from the berries absorb into the top third of the sponge, giving it a gorgeous, ombre tone that looks as beautiful as it tastes.Use a mixture of whatever berries are plentiful; frozen will work well, too

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Georgina Hayden’s recipe for spiced crab egg fried rice

Crab deserves to be celebrated, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a super-fancy, laborious meal. Crab midweek? Yes, please, and fried rice is my fallback whenever I am in a dinner pickle. That’s not to belittle its deliciousness, complexity or elegance, though, because this spiced crab version can be as fancy as you like. That said, the speed and ease with which I can create a meal that I know everyone will love is the winning factor. Plus, I often have leftover cooked, chilled rice in the fridge, anyway, which is always the clincher (cooked rice has a better texture for frying once chilled)

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Rukmini Iyer’s quick and easy recipe for courgette linguine with trout, lemon and dill | Quick and easy

This is such a lovely, summery dish: it takes under 30 minutes from start to finish, and I found it immensely reviving after a long day. The grated courgette melts into the pasta, and works perfectly with the lemon, trout and a hit of chilli. If you have one of those multi-nut and seed mixes (the M&S 35-plant one is excellent), by all means add a scoop to finish; otherwise, a scattering of toasted pine nuts will add a welcome crunch. An elegant dinner for two.Prep 10 min Cook 20 min Serves 22 trout fillets 2½ tbsp olive oilSea saltJuice and finely grated zest of ½ lemon, plus 2 lemon slices180g linguine 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely grated1 tsp chilli flakes1 large courgette, trimmed and coarsely grated10g fresh dill, roughly chopped 4 tbsp pine nuts, or 4 tbsp omega nut and seed mixHeat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6

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Bangkok Diners Club, Manchester M4: ‘This will soon be one of Manchester’s hottest dining tickets’ – restaurant review | Grace Dent on restaurants

Bangkok Diners Club feels a bit as if it’s tucked down a humid Rattanakosin sidestreet in the Thai capital’s old town, rather than in a room above a pub 6,000 miles away in Ancoats, Manchester. Husband-and-wife team Ben and Bo Humphreys have brought their joint skills to the Edinburgh Castle, an elegantly restored 19th-century pub with an upstairs restaurant that in recent years has made quite a name for itself; before the Humphreys’ arrival, this same space was the lair of Winsome’s Shaun Moffat, where plaudits and gongs were in ready supply, but then Moffat got his hands on his own place and this upstairs room needed a pair of cool, capable hands to take over.Look no further than Ben and Bo, who have a pedigree in forward-thinking Thai cuisine. Bo was born and raised in Thailand’s north-eastern Isaan region, before moving to Bangkok in her teens, while Ben has cooked at Manchester’s Thai fusion restaurant District and, before that, at Tattu, Rabbit in the Moon and Lucky Cat. After the closure of District in 2022, the couple spent three years eating their way across Thailand and the US, picking up inspiration for dishes in which authentic Thai flavours, and occasionally Bo’s family-favourite recipes, could merge with the Korean and Mexican barbecue flavours of Miami smokehouses

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How to make coffee and walnut cake – recipe | Felicity Cloake's Masterclass

Today is my birthday, so I’m celebrating with a classic that, for all the sticky tres leches and sophisticated sachertortes I’ve enjoyed in recent years, remains my absolute favourite, my desert island cake: that darling of the WI tea tent, the coffee and walnut sandwich. The great Nigel Slater once named it his last meal on Earth, and I’m hoping to have it for tea.Prep 30 min Cook 25 min Serves 8225g room-temperature butter 4 tbsp instant coffee (see step 1)100g walnut halves 4 eggs 225g soft light brown sugar 225g plain flour 3 tsp baking powder ¼ tsp fine salt Milk (optional)For the icing165g room-temperature butter425g icing sugar ¼ tsp salt 4 tbsp double cream (optional)If you’ve forgotten to get your butter out of the fridge, begin by dicing and spacing it out on the paper to soften (remember, you’ll need some for the icing, too).Mix the coffee with two tablespoons of boiling water and leave to cool – I like the nostalgic flavour of instant coffee here, but you can substitute three tablespoons of espresso or other strong coffee, if you prefer.Toast the walnut halves in a dry pan until they smell nutty, then set aside a quarter of the most handsome-looking ones to use as decoration later