Zack Polanski has claimed he is the target of a “smear campaign” and described the media scrutiny he has faced since becoming Green Party leader as “incredibly disproportionate” — as a string of revelations about his past and conduct continue to dog his leadership at a moment when the party is otherwise enjoying its strongest electoral position in years.
The Green leader made the remarks to Sky News political correspondent Rob Powell, framing the sustained attention on his background and record as a politically motivated attempt to undermine both him and his party. His comments echo those of his supporters, some of whom have drawn explicit comparisons to the antisemitism controversy that damaged Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership, with left-wing outlet Al Jazeera running a piece arguing that “the anti-semitism smear that ruined Corbyn’s Labour now targets the Greens.”
But the issues Polanski has had to address are extensive and varied. The Telegraph revealed he had falsely claimed to have worked for the Ministry of Justice — a claim that turned out to relate to actor roleplay work for an independent quango — and that he had previously described himself as a British Red Cross spokesperson when he had merely hosted fundraising events. He also faced questions about whether he had paid council tax on a houseboat he owned, and whether he was a full member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy at the time he claimed to be.
A resurfaced interview from 2013 showed Polanski appearing to double down on claims he could enlarge a woman’s breast size through hypnotherapy, contradicting his more recent statements in which he denied ever believing it was possible. Asked by ITV’s Good Morning Britain last year whether he believed at the time that hypnosis could achieve this, he said: “No.” The BBC, after being asked to point to a programme in which he claimed to have apologised immediately after the original article, said it could find no record of any such appearance.
More damaging have been revelations about his activity on the social media platform Bluesky. The Telegraph reported that Polanski had liked posts suggesting Sir Keir Starmer was on the payroll of “Zionist philanthropists” and asking “how much does Israel pay him?” — content widely described as antisemitic conspiracy theory. He also shared, and later deleted, a post criticising Metropolitan Police officers for their treatment of the Golders Green terror attack suspect, for which he subsequently apologised.
His party is simultaneously navigating a serious antisemitism scandal involving multiple candidates at the local elections. As the Green Party has positioned itself as the vehicle for progressive and pro-Palestinian sentiment disillusioned with Labour, it has faced repeated charges of sectarianism and antisemitism — a pattern Polanski and his supporters argue mirrors the bad-faith attacks directed at the Labour left under Corbyn.
Despite it all, the Greens’ electoral trajectory under Polanski has been remarkable. Party membership has tripled since he took over in September 2025, and he has claimed to have had conversations with Labour MPs in “double figures” who are considering defecting, naming left-wingers Clive Lewis and Nadia Whittome as obvious potential recruits. The party made significant gains at the May local elections, winning control of Hackney, Lewisham, Waltham Forest, Norwich and Hastings councils.
Whether the scrutiny Polanski faces constitutes a coordinated smear or is a legitimate consequence of seeking the highest elected position in a major national party — with the public examination that entails — is a question his supporters and critics are likely to continue arguing for some time.
