Joe Belcher

Ahead of what will clearly be a coordinated assault on Zack Polanski - some basic facts. 1 - Yes, Polanski's own net approval ratings have dipped sharply in recent months. This is primarily the result of more people becoming aware of him and forming an opinion. His actual approval ratings have been remarkably steady and, at 19%, he remains considerably more popular than his party. 2 - By comparison Adrian Ramsay's approval rating when he was co-leader in June 2025 was 5%. 81% had either never heard of them or had never bothered to form an opinion. His fellow co-leader Carla Denyer was only marginally better on 9%. 3 - Reportedly 18,000 members have left in recent months. But this is in the context of an unprecedented surge in membership which took the party from 70k to close to quarter of a million members after Polanski became leader. 4 - The party now has more than 1300 local councillors, compared to less than 900 when Polanski became leader. 5 - Yes, the Greens have dipped in the polls recently. But even now they are at the same level they were when he became leader. And they are primarily victims of their own success having obliged the Labour Party to ditch Starmer - a level of influence the Greens could previously only dream of. 6 - The Zionism is racism motion is held up as having done huge damage to the party. An Opinium poll showed 56% of Green Party members supported it - and just 13% opposed it. A clear majority among all voters under 34 who expressed an opinion supported it. By any logical criteria, if your aim is for the Greens to become Britain's first genuinely radical, mass political party, capable of holding the balance of power in parliament, it makes no sense whatsoever to get rid of Polanski. It makes sense only if that is precisely what you don't want to happen. thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…