A dispute over the party's direction
Speaking on the BBC's Newscast podcast, Ramsay distinguished between the many recent recruits who share the Greens' longstanding values and a small minority whose politics and methods he opposes. He suggested the latter would fit better in the Socialist Workers Party, alongside George Galloway or in Your Party.
Ramsay accused that minority of pursuing hard-line positions and bringing a factional approach to the party. He called on the leadership to reaffirm its environmental priorities and a way of working built around consensus rather than tribal political divisions.
He also criticized Polanski for missing the conference debate on the motion declaring "Zionism is racism". Ramsay opposed the motion and told the podcast that Israel has a right to exist, a position at odds with Polanski's.
But Ramsay said he was neither seeking the leadership nor demanding Polanski's resignation. "This is not a leadership bid, I've been extremely clear about that," he said. He described his intervention as a contribution to the debate about the party's next steps.
Polanski, who has overseen a large increase in membership, succeeded Ramsay and Carla Denyer in September 2025. He received 20,411 votes, or 84.1% of the membership vote. His election ended their co-leadership arrangement, with Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward elected as deputies.
Responding on X on October 31, Polanski wrote: "There's no environmental justice without social, racial and economic justice." Ali likewise argued that members' work on climate, fairness at home and justice abroad belonged together, rejecting the idea that they had to choose between them. Millward said advocacy for human rights and nature was consistent, concluding: "People and planet. Both."
The conference vote and its consequences
The disputed policy passed at the Green Party of England and Wales' annual conference in Brighton on October 4, 2026. Members voted 1,022 to 813 to adopt the motion. Fewer than 1% of the party's roughly 230,000 members participated, according to BBC News and Yahoo News UK.
Following its adoption, Israel's foreign ministry announced that Polanski was barred from entering the country. The ministry called the motion a "clear antisemitic text" that went beyond "the boundaries of legitimate political debate".
Polanski has expressed a desire to amend the motion while pledging to leave the party's rules unchanged. Those rules prevent the policy from being "significantly altered" for at least two years, according to The Telegraph's reporting cited by Yahoo News UK.
The policy has also put local governing arrangements with Labour in question. In mid-October, Labour said it would end power-sharing deals unless Green councilors publicly disowned the policy. BBC News reported that the affected Green groups had until Sunday to respond, with Labour's National Executive Committee then due to decide whether the agreements would continue.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism referred the Greens to the Equality and Human Rights Commission over the policy. The organization is also assessing claims from dozens of Jewish and Zionist members who are considering a High Court lawsuit alleging discrimination and harassment.
Election results and membership losses
Polanski's leadership has also faced an electoral test. He finished second in the October 8, 2026, Holborn and St Pancras by-election, receiving 8,928 votes, or about 33%. Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali won with 12,292 votes, about 45%, and a majority of 3,364. Despite the defeat, the Greens' share rose about 22 percentage points from the 2024 general election, BBC News reported.
An internal briefing seen by Sky News and reported on October 30 put Green membership at about 213,000, down from a peak of about 231,000. It said nearly 18,000 members had left since May 2026, following the party's adoption of the policy.
The briefing warned that the party had lost around £880,000 in income and would have to revise its spending plans for the following year.
