Zack Polanski was elected Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) on 2 September, soundly beating joint-ticket rivals, Adrian Ramsay MP and Ellie Chowns MP. Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward were elected as joint deputy leaders.
This post considers whether the party is straying from its traditional ecological foundation under its new leadership.
Let’s start with the front page of the greenparty.org.uk website, pictured here a couple of weeks after Polanski won:
What are the priorities in the front-page message from Zack, signing off in his Call-me-Dave / Call-me-Tony style?
- Reform UK on the rise
- getting more Greens elected
- working to lower people’s bills
- take back control of our water
- make childcare free for every family
The ecological crisis is not mentioned.
What’s in the latest Press Releases? Trump, the Senedd in Wales and the Eurovision song contest. Again, the ecological crisis is not mentioned.
If you follow the Join Us Today link, you will get a little balance about the ecological crisis.
But first, the screen is dominated by a link to 1.5 minute video by Polanksi, Draw the line. Join the Green Party today, which indicates a level of personality cult not seen before with previous leaders. Again, it’s wages first, rivers second and the final flourish is
it’s time to put money back where it belongs, into our communities, into the NHS, nationalise our water companies, stop selling arms to Israel, and of course, protect our natural world.
(Nice to put ‘of course’ in at the end. Well, it goes without saying, really.)
The Join Us text includes ecological concerns but each time they are mentioned, it is as a secondary, less important matter. In the top section it’s –
We are the alternative to the other parties’ cruel politics of division and we will make sure no one is being left behind.
Then, in the next paragraph, almost hidden, is the phrase
we are standing up for people and planet
Similarly, the next section of Join Us Today speaks of
building a future that is Green and equal
and then
There’s no climate justice without social justice. Whether you are passionate about clean air, human rights, ending systemic racism, or stopping climate change, it’s all linked.
It is all linked, of course, but the emphasis, as ever, seems to be on social justice. Polanski is an ‘eco-populist’. He wants a wealth tax, universal basic income and more help for people in poverty – all commendable, but there is nothing in his messaging so far about how to stop endless economic growth, for example. All in all, the Green Party under Polanski seems to be continuing to grow away from its ecological roots.