Zack Polanski has suggested changing Green Party rules to give its leader greater authority over the organisation’s strategic direction, as an anti-Semitism row continues to challenge his leadership.
The Green Party leader said its internal democracy needed to “evolve” after membership grew to more than 200,000 since he took charge in September last year.
His comments follow a vote at the party’s conference in Brighton on 4 October, where about 1,000 members backed a motion declaring that “Zionism is racism”. Around 800 voted against it.
The motion has been condemned by critics as an attack on the Jewish community, while opponents argue that its support for “a single democratic Palestinian State in all of historic Palestine” amounts to calling for the eradication of Israel.
Mr Polanski did not take part in the vote, choosing instead to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. His absence prompted accusations from within the party that he had shown a lack of leadership.
He subsequently lost the contest to Labour, intensifying questions about his position as Green leader.
Writing about the party’s future, Mr Polanski said: “Our party has grown to a size none of us could have anticipated when I became leader.”
He added: “Our party democracy must now evolve to meet that – creating wider engagement for members, giving leaders more responsibility to set the party’s strategic direction, and making our processes as robust and accessible as possible.”
Mr Polanski said he supported the broad substance of the Brighton motion but did not agree with all of it. He specifically objected to “dictating the future shape of a state in Israel and Palestine”.
He also acknowledged that some party members felt “let down” by his decision to campaign in London rather than attend the vote.
Although the motion has become Green Party policy, it is not guaranteed to appear in a future manifesto. The party’s MPs are not required to support it, and four of its five MPs opposed the change.
Former Green leader Caroline Lucas has suggested there was “entryism” by activists who joined the party primarily to support the motion rather than its wider policies.
Ellie Chowns, the Green MP for North Herefordshire, said she wanted to ensure the party was not “vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists”. She also called for policies to reflect the views of the majority of members.
Adrian Ramsay, a former Green co-leader and MP for Waveney Valley, has urged the party to get “back on track” and return to its “core purpose” of championing environmental causes.
