Zack Polanski: 'As soon as we overtake the Tories, we're coming for Labour next'

Read time: 5 mins

In brief…

• Zack Polanski says criticism from the right-wing is due to “confusion” over a surge in popularity for the Green Party since he became leader, adding that the left is equally shaken by its rise.
• Polanski tells Lewis Goodall he rejects any suggestion that he is a left-wing equivalent of Nigel Farage, saying he wants to take back the word “populist” and bring an end to culture wars in the UK.
• He admits to being surprised at the party’s rapid rise, and says the Greens are continually reevaluating their goals as its members grow.

What’s the story?

Zack Polanski is ruffling feathers across in UK politics.

Perhaps with good reason too. Since becoming leader of the Green Party in September 2025, its members have grown from 68,000 to over 110,000 in little over a month, with Polanski receiving praise for his TV appearances, social campaign videos and measured responses to challenges on sensitive subjects.

Right-wing media has accused Polanski of speaking "nonsense" about a wealth tax, of wanting to "destroy Britain", of being a "dangerous" communist, and much more during his short time as leader.

He's also faced more personal attacks, with the Daily Mail taking aim at his imperfect smile, comparing him to Hannibal Lecter.

"People comment endlessly on things like my teeth," he tells The News Agents.

"I bloody love my teeth, so that one just never gets to me.

"I think having a unique smile is something I enjoy about myself, and I enjoy in other people."

Polanski tells Lewis Goodall he believes the attacks on his policies and person are due to people being "partly confused" by his rapid rise in public opinion.

The Green Party has, after all, only four seats in the House of Commons.

"I think whether it's Reform or Labour, I think they don't quite know what to do with me," Polanski says.

"On one day, I'm being painted as an incompetent clown they don't know what to do with, and on other days, I'm a very dangerous Machiavellian man."

But while the number of seats the Greens currently hold is small, opinion polls paint a very different picture.

Recent polling suggests that since Polanski became leader, the Green Party is just a few points behind Labour and the Conservatives. One suggested it had even overtaken Labour, which has seen a monumental decline in public favour since its win at the 2024 general election.

"As soon as we've overtaken the Tories, we're coming for Labour next, and I think Labour know we're coming for them, particularly next May at the local elections," Polanski says.

"Keir Starmer must be looking at those May elections and thinking that electorally, it is going to be an absolute massacre."

Polanski: ‘Nigel Farage is not a patriot’

Polanski's policies have led many to compare him to Nigel Farage – albeit on the  extreme opposite of the political divide.

Farage, and Reform UK, have been criticised for offering simple solutions to complicated issues, and criticism from the right has suggested Polanski is doing likewise.

Polanski denies any similarity to Farage's approach to politics – and does not believe the Clacton MP is either a populist, or a patriot.

"Populism is the 99% versus the 1%. Nigel Farage says he's a man of the people, but he's a man of the wealthy people," Polanski says.

"He literally wants to represent those 1%. He can call himself a populist all he likes. He's bastardising the word."

Polanski adds that he is taking the word "populist" back from Farage.

"What I want to see is working class communities alongside small business owners, people who don't work, disabled people, migrants, trans people – all the culture war nonsense," he says.

"Let's cut through that nonsense and recognise we have so much more in common, and the real problem here is a small elite group of people who largely own the media, who largely are donating to political parties, who are trying to distract and divide."

While Polanski admits there is "always some truth" to what Farage says, and believes this is why he remains so popular, he insists the Reform leader’s political work is "a house of cards built on lies", and will always collapse.

‘There will never be a coalition with Keir Starmer’s Labour’

Unlike Farage, who makes no secret of his desire to become Prime Minister at the earliest possible opportunity, Polanski and the Greens are approaching future elections with a broader sense of success.

He admits Green ambitions are, for now, to continue building at "a local level", and getting "better and better" at bringing change to the UK.

And while he could see the Greens entering a coalition government in the future, he says that would "absolutely not [happen] under any circumstances" with Keir Starmer's Labour.

"He has broken trust so much with both the left," Polanski says, describing the PM's stance on the Palestine/Israel conflict as "indefensible".

"I think once you've reached that point, there's no way you can go into coalition with someone like that."

Some members of Starmer's government may be keen to work with the Greens, however, with Polanski also confirming that he is in talks with Labour MPs about defecting.

Green Party giving voters ‘hope’?

Barely more than a month into his leadership, with local elections over half a year away and the next general election not expected until 2029, Polanski and the Green Party have time to build on the momentum it has enjoyed so far.

He describes the party as one of "implicitly socialist" beliefs, places huge importance on increased – but fair – taxes on the UK's super rich, and has said he wants to "make hope normal again" in UK politics.

Reform continues to dominate opinion polls, but with only the Greens making any notable gains with voters, some have suggested the next battle in UK politics will be between Farage and Polanski, who says he is now "constantly reevaluating" what the Green Party can achieve.

"If you'd said to me six months ago, when I was thinking about running for leader of the Green Party, that major commentators in this county would be saying it is a fight between Farage and Polanski, even in my most visionary, I'd have said that was a few years down the line," Polanski says.

"We are so with the momentum right now, and we've got a clear story to tell which is filling a lot of people with hope.

"What would have felt hugely ambitious six weeks ago is suddenly making us ask if we are being ambitious enough.”

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents.