Former Green leader Caroline Lucas criticises Zack Polanski over Zionism vote

Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas has criticized current leader Zack Polanski for missing a vote on a controversial motion at the party's annual conference in Brighton, BBC News and the Daily Mail reported. The motion passed by Green Party members declared Zionism a form of racism and defined it as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state. Lucas told Newsnight that Polanski should have been there and should have voted, describing the passed motion as dangerous and divisive. [1][5]

In the wake of the conference vote, Polanski stated that he will not accept anyone being excluded from the Green Party because of their religious beliefs, BBC News reported. Meanwhile, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has called on Polanski to reverse the motion, according to the BBC. Polanski faces additional scrutiny after activist Halima Brewer was elected to the party's disciplinary committee in Brighton, the Daily Mail reported. [1][2][3]

The Green Party of England and Wales is a green and left-wing political party in England and Wales. Led by Polanski since 2025, the party holds five seats in the House of Commons and two in the House of Lords. Zionism is an ethnic nationalist movement that emerged in late 19th-century Europe to establish and support a Jewish homeland. [10][11]

The criticism comes as voting took place in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election for the seat previously held by Sir Keir Starmer, the Daily Mail reported. Polanski contested the seat for the Greens against Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali. As FTMQ News reported earlier, senior Labour figures previously ruled out future cooperation with the Green Party following the adoption of the Zionism motion. [4][9][14]