Zack Polanski: Can the Green Party leader ‘rebalance the scales’ of UK politics?

Read time: 4 mins

In brief…

• Zack Polanski is taking the Green Party from strength to strength, with members now over 100,000 and rising in opinion polls – despite a big push for support from Labour and the Tories with recent conferences.
• The News Agents compare Polanski to New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, and say the Greens may now have swapped the environment for the economy in becoming a ‘tax the rich’ party.
• They add that there has long been a space for a populist left-wing party in UK politics to counter the rise of the right.

What’s the story?

The big winner in the polls after the Labour and Conservative Party conferences? Well, that appears to be the Greens.

While Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch were attempting to inspire party members with rousing speeches in brightly lit conference halls, it was Zack Polanski who was making waves with powerful interviews and TV appearances, along with expertly crafted and targeted social media content.

The Greens, which Polanski has led since September 2025, have recently surpassed 100,000 members – almost 50% of that number joining since he became leader.

It’s not on track to win a general election any time soon, but polling currently places the party between 13 and 15%, edging out the Liberal Democrats in some surveys.

Emily Maitlis says Polanski is currently "one of the few politicians right now who has reasons to be cheerful".

What's the next big challenge for Polanski and The Greens?

So far, so good for the Green Party, but Emily Maitlis says there's a big challenge ahead if he wants to take things to the next level – and that's money.

She says traditional Green Party rules over who it will accept donations from, will pose a "really interesting conundrum" for Polanski and his team going forward.

As of now, it does not accept financial support from organisations involved in selling baby milk in developing countries, or engaged in intensive farming – among others.

"These go back to places where the Greens were just thinking about their eco-populism, not about their economic populism," Emily says.

"I think Polanski is now coming to a place where he and others around him are saying, do we need to start to shift away from all the bans on where we get the money from."

This shift from eco to economic populism, she adds, makes him comparable to other rising stars in left wing politics from across the globe, such as Zohran Mamdani, Democrat candidate to become the New York mayor.

"Polanski's model, as far as we can see, is Mamdani-like, where the eco doesn't stand for ecology, it stands for economic –  it's a tax the rich party," Emily adds.

"It wears socialism on its sleeve, and says it will stop 'rip off Britain'."

This approach, she adds, could even appeal to some of those drawn to Reform UK on its promises to improve lives for British people.

Is there a place for the Greens in UK politics?

The Green Party's 13-15% of the vote share in the latest polls may not sound super impressive, but when you consider the Tories are on 17% and Labour 17-20%, it becomes slightly more impactful.

Reform leads with around 32% of support.

Jon Sopel says the growth of a true left-wing party in the UK could pose an increasing threat to the Labour government, which is already losing support to Reform.

"There is a very substantial number of people who are attracted to this economic populism of Zack Polanski, which is much more ready, tooth and claw, in terms of socialist values than what is being offered currently by Keir Starmer," Jon says.

"We've got the budget coming up, which will be grim, and Zach Polanski looks like a good harbour to shelter in for the time being."

Lewis says there has been an "obvious" space in UK politics for a politician like Zack Polanski for quite some time.

"You need to do it pretty unapologetically, and be someone who gets the modern media environment, gets the power of vertical video, and is a competent speaker – all of which Polanski is," he says.

"Whether you agree with Polanski or not, and agree with all of his politics or not, it is important to have a different sort of view articulated from that side of politics as effectively as some of the online radical right have been doing.

"Potentially it helps rebalance the scales a little bit in everyday media discourse, and day to day political conversation."

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