The leader of the Greens wants to focus on battles that unite – such as taxing wealth – without yielding an inch on minority rights
H
as the grisly race to the bottom in British politics finally been halted by a Green surge? Since Zack Polanski secured the Green party leadership with an emphatic 85% vote share on an unashamedly leftwing platform, the political consensus has faced its biggest challenge since the defeat of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour.
When Polanksi launched his bid in May, the Greens counted 60,000 members. They’ve now hurtled past 130,000, eclipsing the number of Conservative members. One poll already puts them on 15%, more than double last year’s 6.2% and neck-and-neck with Labour. To call that a political phenomenon is not hyperbole.
The Greens’ amateurish social-media operation has been transformed. In the place of clunky graphics and dour tweets come slick, viral videos – Polanski urging us to “make hope normal again” – or sassy celebrations of each new membership milestone. The party’s on-screen presence has evolved, too. Previous TV outings by Green politicians could be described as awfully nice but lacking in cut-through messages. Polanski, however, has embraced the Nigel Farage tactic of confrontation, whether it be championing a wealth tax, backing transgender rights without equivocation or accusing Reform UK of fascism.
