Zack Polanski

Zack Polanski (born David Paulden; 2 November 1982) is a British politician who has been the Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales since September 2025, succeeding the joint leadership of Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, and a member of the London Assembly (AM) since May 2021.

Quotes

2019

• [During his campaign to be selected as the Green Party candidate for London Mayor] Thanks to most of my fellow candidates. It's pointed because it needs to be. I think we need to look as an organisation at how we treat our members. The anti-Semitism, transphobia and pathetic smear attacks concern me.
  It shouldn't be allowed and, as a party, I'll be doing my bit to get a grip on it. I hope others will join me in consistently condemning it when it happens.
• [After a Jewish man aged 69 was physically assaulted in Highbury, north London] Utterly senseless – just one of the many reasons we need to restore community police and further measures to tackle hate crime.
  • Posts on Facebook (2019), as cited in "Polanski vowed to ‘get a grip’ on anti-Semitism in Greens... seven years ago", The Telegraph (7 May 2026).

2026–present

• [On drug legalisation] I've actually never taken a drug in my life, or even drunk alcohol, but I still don’t sit here as the fun police. I very clearly believe people should be able to do what they want to do. It just wasn’t for me.
  • "I've never taken drugs or drunk alcohol, says Zack Polanski", The Guardian (1 February 2026).

• [On the 2026 Gorton and Denton by-election] I'll be totally honest, when I heard Andy Burnham wasn't being selected, I punched the air and I thought it's very probable we can win this. I wasn't complacent but I knew we could do it.
• Whether we're talking about the cost of living crisis, whether we're talking about the genocide in Gaza, or generally the feeling that they were voted in on one word, change - and they've not offered a whole lot of it.
  The Green Party are here, and we're ready to give them that change.
  • Starmer admits by-election defeat 'very disappointing' but says he will 'continue to fight', Sky News (27 February 2026).^{[dead link]}

• [On standing as a parliamentary candidate] I have lived in London for more than 20 years. As soon as a by-election comes up in London, I would definitely consider it.
  • "Starmer hits out at 'extremes' of left and right after historic Green by-election victory", Financial Times (27 February 2026).

• [T]here's a conversation to be had about whether it's a perception of unsafety or whether it's actual unsafety, but neither is acceptable.
  As a politician, as a leader of a political party it's really important that we do everything we can to make sure that people are both physically safe and have the perception of safety and it's unacceptable for anyone in this country to be feeling unsafe if they're just going about their daily business
  • From an interview, as cited in "U.K. Greens' Polanski: Whether Danger Perceived or Actual, Jews Feeling Unsafe 'Unacceptable'", Haaretz (22 April 2026).
  • Referring to the Hatzola arson in the March/April 2026 London antisemitic attacks in Golders Green and elsewhere.

• [Asked if he wished to apologise to Nigel Farage for reposting a threatening image of him] Well, if I'd done it deliberately I'd be apologising but because this was a mistake I think the important thing is that I point out this was a mistake, that I also make sure that I condemn political violence, and also crucially I make a commitment to be better on social media.
• The ramping up of the language to say 'this is incitement to murder me' feels like that's also putting me in a dangerous spot.
• You know as well as I do that as soon as I do that Nigel Farage would run all over social media saying he was correct about incitement to murder and this would all ramp up again.
  I think it's important that I draw a line and don't play his game... It is important that he's kept safe, it is important we condemn political violence, but I also recognise this as the political attack that it is.
  If Nigel Farage wants to apologise for all the times that he's put other people in danger then I will be happy to make an apology.
• It feels quite surreal to be having this conversation. [...] I think it would be odd for the police to speak to me about that because I think it's quite obvious I've not done anything wrong other than make an inadvertent mistake.
  • Interviewed on Newsnight (28 July 2026) by Victoria Derbyshire, as cited in "Polanski says guillotine re-post was mistake but refuses to apologise", BBC News (28 July 2026)
  • Polanski had reposted on social media an image of a man at a demonstration wearing a T-shirt featuring the phrase "We’re only making plans for Nigel" and a drawing of a guillotine.