Zack Polanski’s ‘eco-populism’ could put voters off Greens, opponents say
The Green party risks going into reverse if they elect Zack Polanski as leader, his two opponents have said, arguing that his promised brand of “eco-populism” would prove polarising, divisive and likely to put off more moderate voters,Speaking to the Guardian before the opening of the month-long leadership vote, which begins on Friday, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns said the party in England and Wales was at “a crossroads”, and could miss the chance to hold the balance of power at the next election,“I strongly believe that most British people have had enough with populist approaches to politics that seek to simplify everything, that are all about chasing the next headline, the next set of likes, rather than real substance,” said Ramsay, who has co-led the party with Carla Denyer since 2021,“There’s no point in just speaking to a certain section of the public that already backs you,You have to communicate in a way that has a broad appeal.
”Ramsay, one of four Green MPs elected last year, is standing this time with another of their number, Chowns, after Denyer opted to stand down,The other hopeful is Polanski, the current deputy leader, who has promised to shake up a party operation he characterises as over-timid and uninspiring,Polanksi, a fluent communicator whose main leadership video has racked up more than 2m views on X, aims to make the Greens a mass-membership “eco-populism” movement,This would involve a push for more councillors and MPs matched with a radical change in communications strategy, seeking to create headlines as effectively as Nigel Farage and Reform,Allies of Polanski argue that, given how much effort was needed to move from the previous total of one MP to four, expanding in number to a meaningful 20 or more MPs would be almost impossible without a much bolder approach to generating media coverage.
Ramsay and Chowns, however, say this would risk undermining the party’s expansion, pointing to their own seats, in East Anglia and Herefordshire, which were secured against mainly Conservative opposition.“Anyone who wants to win in a first-past-the-post system has to be able to win the trust of people who don’t agree with them about absolutely everything, ideologically or policy-wise, but feel that they can put their trust in that person,” said Chowns.“That’s the reality of the system that we work within.“This gets to the core of the difference between the leadership that Adrian and I are offering in contrast to the leadership that that Zack seems to be offering.We’re way past those kinds of old ideas of politics being binary, left and right, simplistic like that.
”Polanski, she argued, would risk limiting Green support to a committed core of little more than 10% of people, and would alienate less radical but more numerous left-leaning voters who could be drawn to the party.“The danger of having a particularly polarising, strident approach to politics is that you seem very attractive to the people who already like you, but you may put off that wider range of people you’ve got to be able to attract,” she said.The vote of party members runs throughout August, with the winner or winners announced on 2 September.Green insiders say they have no idea which way the contest could go.Ramsay said the differences in approach, plus fragmented political loyalties that could result in Labour relying on Green support after the next election, made the contest perhaps the most significant in the party’s history.
A Polanski win, he argued, might instead make the Greens slide back into irrelevance.“We can’t assume we will continue to go forward,” he said.“We have dragged the Green party out of the wilderness years that we were in, in my early time in the party, when people said: ‘We like what you stand for, but are you credible? Are you actually going to be able to make any difference?’“We have shown we can win seats at the general election because we’ve got a message that’s both bold and credible, and we have got to be both.And if you look at the sorts of tactics that Zack is proposing, they’re quite similar to what happened in Australia, where [in the 2025 federal election] the Greens went back from four seats to one.So we can’t assume that that progress will continue.
”A particular difference could be in how the Greens approach possible links with a new leftwing party co-led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.While Polanski has said he could be open to cooperation, Ramsay and Chowns are more sceptical.“Cooperation is in the DNA of the Greens,” Chowns said.“We have always said we will cooperate with people wherever there is common ground.”However, she argued, the launch of the new party – which has been accompanied by disagreements between its two leaders and is still name-less – “has not been the smoothest”.
She added: “If I was a voter looking for an alternative to the current way of doing politics, or a frustrated Labour voter, I’m not sure that that would inspire confidence.”
Wes Streeting says striking doctors ‘will lose a war with this government’
The doctors union “will lose a war with this government”, Wes Streeting has said, adding that the NHS is ready to tough out a prolonged series of strikes by the British Medical Association (BMA).In his most outspoken comments so far about the dispute involving resident doctors in England, the health secretary vowed that Labour would never give in to their demand for a 29% pay rise.However, in a plea to the BMA, he urged it to agree a deal based on tackling other frustrations those doctors have, separate to their salaries, in which both sides would “win the peace”.Fresh talks are planned next week. For these to have any chance of success, Streeting said, the BMA should agree it will not call any more strikes and accept that other NHS staff deserve decent pay increases too, not just medics, who are already paid more than many colleagues
An ethics record that this Labour government can be proud of | Letter
Re your editorial (The Guardian view on standards in politics: a golden reform opportunity squandered, 25 July), before being elected to parliament for the first time last year, I dedicated nearly 15 years of my life to tackling bribery and corruption. And I am pleased that the government is implementing its manifesto commitments to improve standards.Let us not forget the steady work of Margaret Hodge, who is progressing a comprehensive, cross-government anti-corruption strategy to be published later this year, and the Covid counter-fraud commissioner, Tom Hayhoe, whose work is so vital to restoring trust in government. And let us not forget what the government has already committed to in its first 12 months: replacing the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, increasing the frequency of ministerial hospitality disclosures, scrapping hereditary peers, votes at 16, rolling out automatic voter registration, tightening up political party financing and empowering the Electoral Commission.That’s a track record to be proud of and a clear change of course from the political indifference to ethics, integrity and democratic participation exhibited by recent Conservative governments
Labour pays estimated £2m to settle claims by 20 people over leaked antisemitism dossier
Labour has settled claims brought by 20 people, mainly former staffers, who featured in a leaked internal document about antisemitism in the party, with the costs estimated to be close to £2m.The settlements include a payout to Labour’s former elections chief Patrick Heneghan, who was falsely accused in the dossier of having tried to sabotage Jeremy Corbyn’s chances of winning the 2017 general election.It is understood the payouts will total just under £1m, but with Labour paying both sides’ legal fees the cost to the party will be near to £2m.This puts the total legal costs for Labour connected to the dossier at more than £4m, with court documents released last year showing the party spent £2.4m on its own eventually abandoned lawsuit pursuing five separate staffers it accused of being behind the leak
Zack Polanski’s ‘eco-populism’ could put voters off Greens, opponents say
The Green party risks going into reverse if they elect Zack Polanski as leader, his two opponents have said, arguing that his promised brand of “eco-populism” would prove polarising, divisive and likely to put off more moderate voters.Speaking to the Guardian before the opening of the month-long leadership vote, which begins on Friday, Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns said the party in England and Wales was at “a crossroads”, and could miss the chance to hold the balance of power at the next election.“I strongly believe that most British people have had enough with populist approaches to politics that seek to simplify everything, that are all about chasing the next headline, the next set of likes, rather than real substance,” said Ramsay, who has co-led the party with Carla Denyer since 2021.“There’s no point in just speaking to a certain section of the public that already backs you. You have to communicate in a way that has a broad appeal
Family of British couple held in Iran urge UK to raise case in talks with Tehran
The son of a British woman who has been held in Iran since January on espionage charges along with her husband has called on the UK government to raise their case during talks with Iran reportedly taking place in Istanbul later this week.Lindsay and Craig Foreman, both 52, were arrested on 3 January in Kerman, southern Iran, while travelling through the country from Armenia to Pakistan on a motorcycle journey to Australia.The family, who have not had direct contact with the couple since their incarceration, have said promises from the Foreign Office in the past fortnight to arrange conversations with the couple had not materialised.Six weeks ago, the Foreign Office said it did not know the couple’s whereabouts, despite initially having said they were being transferred to Evin prison in Tehran.Lindsay’s eldest son, Joe Bennett, said the family were past breaking point
UK to recognise state of Palestine in September unless Israel holds to ceasefire
The UK will formally recognise the state of Palestine this September as a result of the “increasingly intolerable” situation on the ground in Gaza, unless Israel abides by a ceasefire and commits to a two-state solution in the Middle East.Keir Starmer’s cabinet has agreed a roadmap for peace in the region after coming under intense domestic pressure over the mounting humanitarian crisis in the territory, and calls to follow France in acknowledging statehood.The prime minister recalled his cabinet from their summer break to approve the plan after holding talks with Donald Trump in Scotland. The US president said the issue had not come up, but that he did “not mind” the UK taking a position, even if he would not.Starmer told his ministers that, because of the catastrophic situation on the ground in Gaza and the diminishing prospect of reaching a two-state solution, now was the right time to finally move
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