Zack Polanski says he will not try to overturn the Green Party's 'Zionism is racism' motion but will amend it
Green Party members passed a 'Zionism is racism' motion at the party conference in Brighton on 4 October by 1,022 votes to 813, GB News and the Express & Star report. Zack Polanski, the party leader, did not vote on it, and he has said he would not have voted for it without amendments. On BBC One's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 18 October he said, 'I'm not going to try to overturn it'. The Jewish Chronicle reports that he described the policy as not controversial. He told the BBC he wants to amend it at the first opportunity, and the BBC reports that the motion stands until 2028. GB News and the Evening Standard report that he has fallen to his worst poll rating as leader.
A motion passed by conference binds the party, not only its leader, so he can disagree with its wording and still be unable to withdraw it. The reported two-year life of conference policy turns a wording dispute into a long public one.
If you vote Green or are weighing it, the party's own policy pages show what the motion says today and when an amendment could be tabled. Read the motion text itself, because the headline phrase and the document are not identical.
Mr Polanski's position, as the BBC and the Jewish Chronicle report it, is that the policy is not controversial and that he will not try to overturn it, while he wants to amend it at the first opportunity.
GB News and the Evening Standard report the row alongside a fall in his poll rating, with GB News calling it a new polling low.
Confirmed: the vote count, his refusal to overturn the motion and the 2028 date reported by the BBC. Not confirmed: whether the party will find a faster route to an amendment, and whether the poll slide is caused by this row. Watch for any move by party officers or members to force an earlier vote.
DailyDrop U.K. edition No. 15 · Morning · MON., OCT. 19, 2026