Green leader Zack Polanski raises party ambitions after membership and poll surge
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has significantly increased his ambitions for the party following recent election success, an increase in membership and an improvement in the polls.
Polanski, who insists that becoming prime minister is not his immediate goal, now aims for a significant increase in parliamentary representation.
speaking on BBC Political Thought with Nick Robinson In the podcast, Mr Polanski explained that he no longer felt “ambitious” about 30-40 MPs, which was his initial target when he was elected leader in September 2025.
The reassessment comes after Hannah Spencer became the party’s fifth MP in Gorton and Denton, south-east Manchester, in February.
The party’s membership has also increased from around 55,000 when it was seeking leadership to more than 220,000 today, and its poll votes have also tripled.
He stated that “winning a lot more MPs” and local councilors was now his primary focus.
Asked about the possibility of becoming prime minister, Mr. Polanski said: “That’s not the goal right now. It’s definitely on my mind because I get asked about it all the time.”
Instead, he predicts that the Greens hold the balance of power, which he believes will lead to important debates on proportional representation, a wealth tax, climate action and policies to alleviate the life crisis.
He called the changes to the voting system, particularly proportional representation, “a huge reward” and a “burning ambition”.
Mr Polanski also used the interview to apologize for a controversial comment he made to a Sun newspaper reporter in 2013 in which he claimed hypnosis could increase a woman’s breast size.
“It embarrasses me. It’s embarrassing,” he admitted. “At some point, I think it’s important to really lay out what I’m doing now. I made a mistake and I accept that I made that mistake.”
He added: “I think there are two main apologies here. One is for working with The Sun, which is something I will never do as a politician anymore. And that’s not a backtracking on my apology.”
“You know, I went along with that, and I’m guilty of that, too. Thirteen years ago, before I became a politician, but I accept that and I’m sorry for that.”
