Zack Polanski

An Outsider Going Mainstream?

In September, Zack Polanski – a Member of the London Assembly since 2021 – was elected to the Green Party’s top job. His leadership has seen its membership double to more than 150,000 – overtaking those of the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

Peter Jukes and Hardeep Matharu spoke to the 43-year-old former actor and hypnotherapist about his decisive new approach to positioning the Greens as a viable party of opposition – and whether it will survive the narrow world of Westminster politics

Peter Jukes: In the last edition of Byline Times, we explored the rise of the ‘politics of feeling’ and how liberalism is in crisis because it has not come up with a new, affirming vision that people can viscerally attach to, now that its central promise of continued ‘progress’ has been disrupted. Alongside New York City’s new Democratic Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, your name came up as somebody who exhibits a kind of joy and presence which is different in this moment. What do you put your growing popularity down to?

Zack Polanski: There’s undoubtedly a problem throughout politics with soundbite politicians and pre-rehearsed lines. One of the most stark recent examples was [Education Secretary] Bridget Phillipson, the day after Mamdani was elected, being asked by Sky News’ Sophy Ridge several times what she thought about him. Bridget claimed at one point that “I don’t follow American politics especially closely” and that she will only “follow the big stories” – despite the fact that this was a pretty huge story. I think anyone watching it, even if you happen to support Bridget or the Labour Party, would just think ‘that’s not true’. Another example was when [Foreign Secretary] Yvette Cooper talked about putting up bunting around her house of patriotic flags – it just doesn’t read. We saw it in recent weeks, in a much more severe form, in the Government’s reaction to the abduction of [Venezuelan President] Nicolás Maduro and his wife by the US – there was a sense that we had to wait until the ‘lines’ were delivered.

What I’m experiencing more and more in real life, rather than online, including with those who have voted for Reform, is people saying that even if they disagree with you, they appreciate the fact that you’re doing things differently and that you’re telling the truth and being honest about the things you believe in. That you’re not repeating something that’s been written out for you, but that you are saying what you genuinely believe.