Green Party leader Zack Polanski has faced accusations of inciting violence after briefly sharing an Instagram collaboration post featuring an image calling for Nigel Farage’s decapitation, prompting calls from Reform UK figures for a police investigation.
Zack Polanski has been accused of “inciting violence” after an image calling for the decapitation of Nigel Farage briefly appeared on his Instagram account. The Green Party leader deleted the post shortly after it was flagged to him, according to a Green Party spokesman, who said Polanski had accepted a collaboration request featuring several images without noticing the offending content. The image, reportedly showing a man wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Behead Nigel Farage,” was uploaded this afternoon and appeared on more than one account before Polanski removed his association with it.
Green Party response
A Green Party spokesman said: “After attending a public event, Zack accepted a request to collaborate on a post with several images. Once this image was brought to his attention he immediately unshared the post.” The spokesman added that Polanski “unequivocally does not support this type of dangerous message,” and confirmed he had not noticed the image at the time he accepted the collaboration request, removing it as soon as it was pointed out to him.
Reaction from Farage and Reform UK
Nigel Farage responded directly to the post, calling for Polanski’s arrest. Writing on X, he said: “This is what Zack Polanski has just posted on his instagram. If I was to post anything as inciteful then I would expect to be arrested, and so should Polanski.”
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s Home Affairs spokesman, echoed the call for a police investigation, writing: “Zack Polanski has posted to his 713k Instagram followers a photo of a man in a T-shirt calling for the beheading of Nigel Farage. To do this just 2 weeks after our friend Ann was murdered is staggering. Polanski is inciting murder. It must be treated as such by the police.” Yusuf’s comments referenced the recent fatal attack on Reform UK supporter Ann Hall, with Reform figures arguing that political leaders bear a responsibility to avoid content that risks inflaming tensions.
As of now, no police force has publicly confirmed that a criminal investigation into the post has been opened.
Part of a wider pattern of controversy
This is not the first time Polanski has faced criticism over content shared on social media. Earlier this year, he apologised after sharing a post criticising police tactics during the arrest of the Golders Green stabbing suspect, saying at the time that he had reposted it “in haste.”
