𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Zack Polanski is feeling buoyant days away from the Green Party‘s crunch leadership election vote. A member of the London Assembly, Polanski is keen to talk up the success of his campaign, hailing support from at least 150 of the party’s local councillors.

Speaking to the Daily Express during a packed week persuading party members to back him, Polanski, 42, said: “It feels like I’ve managed to excite and enthuse existing members and bring in new members who want us to take the fight to Reform UK and challenge this deeply unpopular Labour Government. I’m feeling really confident, but not complacent.”

Born into a Jewish immigrant family, Polanski grew up in Salford, Greater Manchester, attended Stockport Grammar School and Aberystwyth University before studying drama in the US. He moved to London, where he joined the Lib Dems before switching allegiance to the Greens in 2017.

Since then he has seen the party progress to the point where it now has four seats in Parliament – its highest ever result. At the last general election, the Greens fielded 629 candidates and gained a 6.7% vote share – another new high.

It was the first time the party had won more than one seat and an increase on its 2.7% vote share in 2019 as more voters were drawn to its eco-friendly policies or balked at voting red or blue. While the Greens had their best election result by far, success since has been somewhat eclipsed by that of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which has seen a turquoise tidal wave sweep the country.

Unlike Mr Farage’s insurgent party, the Greens have struggled in voting intention polls since, languishing at around 8-10%. While Reform has taken advantage of a collapse in support for the Conservatives on the right of British politics, and grabbed some of Labour’s support, the Greens appear to have failed to capitalise on the unpopularity of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s governing party.

Dr David Jeffery, Senior Lecturer in British Politics at Liverpool University, told the Daily Express this is largely a result of Reform UK dominating when it comes to protest votes and of Labour’s successful environmental policies, spearheaded by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

He said since the general election the Greens have seen 10% of those who voted for them go back to Labour. Dr Jeffery added: “The Greens also don’t have a charismatic leader. Adrian Ramsay doesn’t set newsrooms alight. Zack Polanski will.”

It is a challenge facing smaller parties in the UK, including the Lib Dems, whose leader, Sir Ed Davey, has to perform a number of stunts to ensure his party receives media attention.

While Ramsay looks and sounds like a consummate Westminster politician, Polanski comes across as a pumped-up activist, spoiling for a political fight and undaunted at the prospect.

A recent social media post from Polanski, in part about small boat migrant crossings, saw him accuse Labour of peddling a racist narrative about Britain becoming an island of strangers. To date it has garnered 1.6 million views.

But Dr Jeffery warned self-declared “eco-populist” Polanski may prove to be as polarising as other populists, such as former PM Boris Johnson. He described the leadership candidate and current deputy leader as “high risk, high reward” for the Greens.

His warning comes after an article published in 2013 showed Polanski had performed hypnotherapy to “enlarge” women’s breasts at a Harley Street clinic. Polanski has said previously that those actions didn’t represent him and was before his involvement in politics began.

Polanski told the Daily Express: “The risk is not stopping the accelerating risk of fascism in this country.”

He argued that for the Greens to enjoy more success, the party needs to be heard more, not just by those who agree with its principles and policies, but also those that don’t. His call is for a grassroots Green-led movement rather than a single-minded focus on Westminster.

“The way to win the race is to be bold and inspire people. I despise the politics of Nigel Farage, but I think it’s undeniable that before he was an MP he created huge change in this country – which I think was catastrophic – but he made that change happen.

“There are things we need to change about how we connect with people and not focus entirely on how politics has always been done.”

Polanski’s rivals in the leadership race are current co-leader, Ramsay, and Ellie Chowns, a former MEP and now the MP for North Herefordshire.

Ramsay told the Daily Express he and Chowns want to “scale up” the success the party saw last July, adding the Greens could see themselves in an “influential position” if the next general election results in a hung parliament.

He said under his continued co-leadership successes would carry on piling up for the party, which now has some 860 local councillors and around 40 councils where the Greens hold sway.

Ramsay said he now wants to see Green members elected to the Welsh Senedd for the first time in the party’s history. The Waveney Valley MP also said he and Chowns would protect the Green Party’s “distinct” identity and safeguard its “broad appeal”.

“We offer a positive alternative [to Reform UK]. We won’t beat Reform by copying them. Some have argued we need ‘eco-populism’. We’re clear we need to do the opposite of that to show that Green leadership is not just about headlines, but having real substance that will make a real difference to people’s lives… We’re not a personality cult.”

Despite their differences, Norwich City fan Ramsay and Polanski, who cheers on Forest Green Rovers, appear to agree on key policy areas, including climate change and the benefits of migration to Britain’s economy and the NHS.

Both candidates argue there is still widespread public support for Britain’s efforts to balance the amount of planet-warming carbon dioxide it emits with that which is removed from the atmosphere. Ramsay said: “People realise the environmental crisis is the single biggest issue facing humanity.”

He and Polanski are also adamant their party will hold its own in the face of Jeremy Corbyn’s new party. Corbyn this week promised “a new kind of political party” as he launched a new outfit with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana. The former Labour leader called for a “mass redistribution of wealth and power” as he encouraged people to sign up on Thursday (July 24).

Research by More in Common found 10% of voters would back Corbyn’s Your Party, rising to nearly a third of 18-24 year olds. A YouGov poll shows 18% would consider voting for the new outfit.

Ramsay insisted the Greens should maintain efforts to appeal to a wider range of voters, not just those of the “old Left”. He pointed to his party’s popularity among younger voters as he welcomed the Government’s decision to give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote.

He added: “If we just become another party of the ‘old Left’, then we’re not giving people a reason to vote for us over Jeremy Corbyn. There’s a clear choice for party members at this [leadership] election.”

Polanski said a Corbyn-led party posed more of a threat to Labour, adding: “A narrow focus restricts growth of our party. There are millions of people that aren’t voting for us yet. The way to do that is to maintain our values and communicate them better. That’s why our party needs bold leadership.”

The Green Party of England and Wales’ elections are on August 1.