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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Owen Jones

The politics of despair have engulfed Britain. But Zack Polanski is offering a way out

Zack Polanski speaking in front of a crowd of protesters.
Zack Polanski at a protest against Rosebank oil and gas field in London, 18 October 2025. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Has 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.

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