Zack Polanski is the sort of politician you want supporting your case. He is well-spoken, articulate, reasonable-sounding and presentable. He’s an excellent communicator. He draws people towards him. No wonder, then, that last week one of the major pollsters had the Green Party, under his leadership, neck and neck with Labour. No wonder, under his leadership, the Greens are one of only two main parties (the other being Reform) that is actually gaining support. While Labour is going off a cliff, the Tories struggling for their lives and the LibDems going nowhere fast, the Greens are surging upwards. Because of Polanski.
It could be argued that strong support for the Greens, nearly all at the expense of Keir Starmer’s hapless government, is great news for the centre-right. Regardless of whether you’re a Reform supporter or a Tory, a split on the Left, in our first-past-the-post system, has to be good news. It makes it far less likely that Labour will win the next election. Thank goodness for that.
But we should be careful what we wish for. Because Polanski, while sounding so reasonable, is actually spouting a load of thoroughly dangerous guff.
If ever this nice-sounding young man got anywhere near the levers of power, even if only in coalition, we would be in deep peril. And I’m not even referring to his belief that he can enlarge the size of women’s breasts through hypnosis.
Just about the first thing Polanski said on becoming leader was that he supported the arrest of Graham Linehan for a couple of joke posts on social media. That’s so diabolical that it’s worth saying again: the new leader of the Green Party is so opposed to free speech that he wants the police to arrest those with whom he disagrees.
Sadly, that’s not all. Polanski is just about the most far-left politician in my lifetime, and certainly the most far-left (with the exception of Jeremy Corbn) to lead a major political party.
He wants a wealth tax, just at a time when wealth-creators are leaving Britain in their droves. He welcomes refugees and wants more mass migration, at a time when we are already the most over-crowded major country in Europe, with public services straining at the seams.
He advocates for rent controls, ignoring the huge damage such controls have caused whenever they’ve been introduced. He’s spoken out against Britain’s membership of NATO, just when the western alliance needs to stiffen the sinews against Putin’s genocidal madness. That’s before we even get onto Polanski’s self-styled eco populism.
Polanski regards Keir Starmer’s ruinously left-wing government as centralist and conventional, and has stated that it’s his party’s aim to replace Labour on the Left, rather like Nigel Farage is seeking to replace the Conservatives on the Right.
I trust he won’t be successful. I trust that Polanski’s brand of far-left woke eco-progressiveness will never gain enough support to threaten Downing Street. I trust that he will merely damage Labour rather than win power for the Greens.
But we live in febrile and unpredictable times. Let’s look at France, where the centre is hollowing out, and the Far-Left and Far-Right have replaced France’s traditional Socialists (their equivalent of Labour) and Republicans (their version of the Conservatives). If it’s happened just across the Channel, it could happen here too. Don’t bet against it.
So, let’s not dismiss Polanski. Let’s not lull ourselves into a belief that he’s merely a fringe politician with fringe views. Millions agree with him. He’s a first-rate communicator. He pushes the right buttons for those on the Left who find Starmer uninspiring. And first-rate communicators – with views as extreme as his – are the most dangerous of all.