The Green Party have now become more popular with 18–24-year-olds, than the Labour Party. Over the last week alone, the party has seen an 80% increase in memberships since the internal elections, making them the third largest political party in the country, with over 175,000 paying members. Could Zack Polanski be our answer to the rise of the far-right?
Many young people, me included, have felt politically homeless over the last few years, with then unnamed ‘Your Party’ already victim to infighting and disorganisation, and Reform UK surging head in the polls, I speak for many young leftists when I say we were starting to lose hope.
However, after a landslide victory in the Green Party’s recent leadership elections, new leader Zack Polanski has already started to set the record straight on his policies. In addition to fighting tooth and nail to gain media coverage, he’s managed to foster relationships with ordinary, everyday people by visiting towns and cities up and down the country and actively engaging with potential voters on social media. You’d think the next general election would be coming up this year with the way Polanski has been making himself and his policies known.
Just this week, Polanski has made his stances clear regarding higher education, stating that “education should be a right, not a privilege” on Instagram, in direct response to Labour’s announcement on university fees increasing annually, in line with inflation, as of 2026. The Greens have stated through memes, that they want to establish rent controls, fair pay for university staff and even axe tuition fees all together. Whilst the Labour Party further alienate the youth and future of this country, the Green Party are ensuring that we become a priority.
However, some traditional media outlets have been accused of belittling or outright refusing to platform this rapidly rising political star. It seems to me that the media class is fearful of what Polanski is doing – the same way that our newspapers and broadcasters were quick to slam and dismiss Jeremy Corbyn when he was elected Labour leader in 2015. Despite this, Polanski’s charismatic, straightforward approach has been quick to react to low-blow opinion pieces and cheap insults regarding his views on drug legislation (which has been backed by experts) and criticisms of landlords, billionaires and compassion for the marginalised people of the UK.
Polanski has been unapologetically blunt in his criticisms of his opposition party leaders and representatives since his landslide win in the leadership elections; most recently calling Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf a fascist to his face on BBC’s Question Time. Whilst the US sees a horrific rise in authoritarianism, far-right marches flood the streets of the UK peddling Farage and Robinsons’ racist and Islamophobic rhetoric under the guise of ‘protecting our women and girls’, it has never been more important to call things out for what they are. To use Polanski’s own parlance: “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, I’ll call it a duck.”
Unfortunately, we do still have a good few years left of this Labour government pandering to the former Conservative voters and arresting elderly people for peacefully holding up signs, but with the foundations being laid right now with the Green, I think we could have a brighter future ahead of us.
