Leader's Speech - Zack Polanski at Green Party Conference 2025

So last week I was in Leeds filming our party political broadcast. It's very early in the morning. The sun is yet to come up. It's freezing basically and we have some very lovely interruptions from people largely going to work. A few times it's a quick chat or a selfie.

I very much enjoyed one of my favorite moments. I'm talking to the camera about excess billionaire wealth and then suddenly a voice pops up from over a fence and he shouts, "You won't find any of that around here, mate." But actually, the very best moment of filming is I'm just about to finish and a young couple come over and the woman says to me, "Could I ask what you're filming?" And I start to say the Green Party political broadcast. She turns to her partner and she goes, "Bloody hell, it's Zach. We And by the way, we just joined the party last night.

Now, I've got to be careful here. I can't personally promise to turn up on the doorstep of every single new member the morning after, but it was a very lovely moment. 30 days ago, you elected me to be the leader of this amazing party. What an immense privilege. And it's been pretty busy.

from my very first day where I went to meet a group of uh union migrant workers in the NHS to standing here right now in front of you, the largest membership in Green Party history. I've honestly loved every single day we said we'd build this movement and that's exactly what we're all doing. I want to say a special welcome to every single person who has just joined the party in recent months. Over 22,000 of you. Welcome.

And I want to send a message to those of you who are still deciding because we have momentum in every single corner of England and Wales. We are mounting our most ambitious, our most exciting campaign ever. This is the Green Party's moment. And if ever there was a time to join us, that time is now. On the day I became leader, a journalist asked me a surprising question.

They said, "Why did I look so sick as the results were announced?" Now, for a second, I thought I could pretend that's not really how I felt, or I could do that unique thing that the Green Party does, tell the truth.

So, I admitted, yes, I felt pretty sick. And then he said, why? And the answer is obvious. It's the enormity of the task ahead. a failing government, a country where millions and millions of people are struggling to afford the basics.

The far right, they're on the march. Now, you will be pleased to know that the sickness quickly passed. But the moment we're in has only got more serious, more urgent, more consequential. This is a country that has so much going for it. But we have been time and time again failed by a political class poisoned by extreme wealth.

And you can see that poison every single day. Rough sleeping. It is up 164% since 2010. Half of renters are just one paycheck away from losing their home. water companies.

They're pumping sewage into our water and then charging us extra for that privilege. A country where we are all paying the cost of the selling off of our shared assets. 250 more. That's right. It's costing us £250 more each household each year.

That is the privatization premium. A country where a tiny few have taken our power, our wealth. Things must change. And friends, it is time to take it back. So on my first full day as leader, I went to Clton.

Go CL. By the way, guys, that's not a phrase you'll often hear from the constituent's own MP. And I spoke to people out on the same on the street and it was the same story over and over again. Years of neglect, total detachment from the people actually making decisions. A feeling that there's just not a future to get behind.

Well, that's where we come in. Because everything we do between now and the next election must be bold. We have a vision for this place. we call home. And boldness means connecting right now with how hard it is for so many people.

It means listening, not just fingerpointing. It means presenting not just a positive vision of the future, but what we can do right now because we are here to turn our country around. So at every opportunity from the doorstep to the TV studio, our message from the Green Party is this. We will bring down your bills. We will cut the cost of living and we will protect our NHS.

Let's remind ourselves who we're doing this for. For the families who look at the bills each month, wonder how they're going to get by. for renters living in shoddy accommodation. They simply cannot take another rent hike. For the thousands and thousands of disabled people in the UK who have found themselves at the sharp end of brutal government cuts.

Look, the truth is this that these problems facing Britain are longer in the making than the managed decline of Star and Reeves. although they've certainly not helped. These issues are rooted in an economic model which is built on austerity and it's built on privatization. But this party is clear. We will break the shackles of poverty and hardship that lock so many in.

We will end ripoff Britain. And we will make sure that the very wealthiest pay more tax. Taxing the wealthiest is only the beginning. Ripoff Britain. It really hit home for me recently.

I went to Wenshore, which is very close to where I grew up. I was going door knockocking with a local candidate and as we knocked on doors we met a man who was disabled. With him was his carer who used to be homeless and we spoke about how hard everything is and how it just didn't feel like a single person was representing them. Yet so many volunteers had turned up that day because they wanted to make life easier and fairer for people. They had turned up because they believed in something different.

And so as we asked these people for their vote and I knew on the night that night that candidate Zoe Marlo became counselor Zoe Marlo that she would be out there. That's right. We love a Zoe in this party. that she would be out there representing those people we met on the doorstep and all her residents who badly need representatives to help miss make this country one we can all afford to live in. We must end this failed privatization experiment.

It will save us money and stop the money we've all earned lining the pockets of shareholders. water in public hands, clean rivers, cheaper bills, and ending Ripoff Britain does mean taxing the wealthiest to make Britain a country that everyone can afford.

Karma said in his speech that he doesn't believe those who say a wealth tax is the answer to everything. I'm not sure who he's listening to because I'm not aware that anyone's actually ever said that. What we have repeatedly said is if you're in hawk to vested interests and protecting the wealth of the super rich, you can't change anything meaningfully. And sometimes when you talk about taxing the assets of the 1%, you have people worried that you're talking about them. Hairdressers, plumbers who are understandably saying, "I've worked hard all my life.

Why are you taxing me? Why are you taxing my ambition? We need to make sure that every single person in this country knows there will be people who go to sleep at night. And without lifting a finger, when they wake up, they will be richer, much richer. They will make more money in one night than everyone in this room could probably earn in an entire year.

more than the whole of Bournemouth could earn in an entire year. That's why it's difficult to imagine because it's obscene. So, we are not talking about taxing hairdressers or plumbers or ambition. It is time for a party that will tax the assets of the 1% to reduce inequality so we can have a country with universal free child care, funding for send education, rural bus routes, climate investments, tax the wealthiest, invest in our public services, bring down bills by ending privatization. That's how we have a country we can all afford to live in.

And when I say we all, I really mean all of us. Every single one of us. those who choose to make this place our home. Whether like me you were born in Manchester, studied in Wales, now live in London, or whether you've arrived in this country much more recently, this is a party which is unafraid to say migration has helped make this country what we are today. And by the way, not just this country, but it's helped make this party, too.

I'm one of five Jewish people who have led a British political party in the last 100red years. That also means I want to spend a moment to mark yesterday's horrific terrorist attack. As a Jewish man raised in North Manchester, I feel this deeply and my heart is with our community. More widely, I am literally the product of migration. It's why defending migrants matters so much to me.

I want to tell you about a common Jewish experience. It's a tale as old as time. My Jewish ancestry, it's confusing and it's muddling because we were constantly on the run. But from what I can gather, my ancestors started in Latvia in a Jewish town, but they fled because of pograms. They fled to Ukraine where they faced more pograms.

Then they ended up in Poland where they faced the Nazis. Then they arrived in England and met anti-semitism here too. They changed their name to sound more English. And I've changed it back because I know I know, in fact, we all know real pride comes when you no longer hide who you are. And then there's our deputy leaders, Mothin, son of a steel worker whose parents came from what is now known as Bangladesh in the 60s.

Rachel, who apart from a Danish great granddad and a Welsh grandma, has family roots tied to England as far back as she knows. One brought up Jewish, one raised Muslim, one a child of the church. A leadership, three different backstories in a country enriched by people from all over the world. The prime minister might call this an island of strangers. When Farage says jump, Labour might say how high.

But the Greens will never dance to the tune of a Trumploving, tax avoiding, sciencedying, NHS dismantling corporate stoogge. You might as well stay on your feet because I'm going to say, we'll say it loud. We'll say it clear. Migrants and refugees are welcome here. Look, we are under no illusion as to the threat we face in this country.

A march in London addressed by a who's who of the far right. A party leading in the polls with plans to deport our friends, our neighbors, our family members, and a government, a Labor government who are the handmaidadens of this dangerous, deceitful politics. There is no easy way forwards, but the only way starts, and I literally mean the only way, it starts with building in our communities. There's nothing wrong with being proud of where we live. In fact, it should fill us all with pride.

Caring for our local parks, building friendships with our neighbors, organizing with fellow tenants, celebrating our differences. Those are the deep roots that really matter. In Clton that day, one of the people I spoke to was a guy called Paul. He'd just come out of prison. He said he wanted to stop the boats.

said he wasn't anti-migrant. He was Irish and migration was in his blood. But he said to me, "Look at my high street. Look at where I live. How can we have more people come in?" So we talked a little.

We found common ground on some things. On other things, there's still lots of conversations to be had. But I told him how the Green Party also want to stop the boats. We want to stop them through safe and legal routes. We talked some more.

We talked about austerity and the consequences of decades of underinvestment in his community. That's a threat to our high streets. I said our communities are complex. They have their problems and change can make people worried. But we know where that complexity should lead us.

It should lead us to better public services, to creating spaces we can all gather, places young people can meet up. Change can mean thriving new economies, new cuisines, people of all faiths coming together. The threat to the places we love comes not from people arriving on small boats. It comes from an economic system that sucks money from people and places who need it. And it comes from a politics that tries to divide us and point the finger at each other rather than the billionaires.

This is a nation of neighbors. We have to do things better and we will. There is a clear path here. If reform can rock it through the polls with a politics of despair, then it's time for the Green Party to do the same thing. but with a politics of hope.

So, we're going to be focusing day in day out on the cost of living. It makes me cry, too. on making our country a place where we can all afford to live. But don't think for a moment our horizons are going to narrow. When mass slaughter is happening in Palestine, we will not be silent.

When when governments try to silence descent, we won't be silent.

And when Kharma in one of the most deeply cynical and morbid acts I've seen in my lifetime decides to recognize a Palestinian state at the same moment that his government is an active participant in the murdering of the Palestinians, then we will never be silent. Let it be heard across our country, but a call that is now echoing around the world. We must stop selling arms to Israel. We must stop sharing intelligence. We will do everything we can to stop the genocide.

We cannot talk about stopping genocide without talking about the draconian crackdown on the right to protest happening against those taking action for Palestine, using terrorist legislation to arrest hundreds and hundreds of protesters for simply holding up a sign. The prescription of Palestine action must be withdrawn. And every parliamentarian and every parliamentarian, Labor, Tory reform, even Lib Dem who failed to vote against it need to hang their heads in shame. This country has a proud tradition of protecting civil liberties. But once again, a Labor government, a Labor government is cracking down on our rights.

from terrorist prescriptions against protesters to banning journalists from their conference to diving into a rushed evidence-free plan for digital IDs that will only discriminate mainly against minorities. The alarm bells of authoritarianism are ringing loud and clear. And so, my friends, it is down to us, the Green Party, to take a stand, say our rights, our liberties are non-negotiable, and we will do everything in our power to protect both our privacy and defend our juries. And when we talk about global issues, it's clear we also need global solutions. We see that starkly with climate breakdown and with the nature crisis.

I've been asked dozens and dozens of times in the last few days, in fact, in the last few hours probably, if the Green Party is an environmental movement or a social justice movement. As if you can't speak up for our workingclass or LGBT plus communities at the same time as challenging the fossil fuel industry. So, let's clear this up. You cannot be an effective environmentalist without talking about the deep inequality in our society. But the climate crisis is also the cost of living crisis and it is hitting our poorest communities hardest.

Food inflation is being made worse by climate breakdown. We live in one of the most naturally just had the hottest summer on record. Now, Labour made a 28 billion pound pledge on green investment, but they ditched it before the election, before they'd even had a sniff of power. Now, many of their politicians had long opposed airport expansion. And now they're championing it.

They promised not to grant new licenses for North Sea oil and gas. And now we hear inexplicably they're exploring new ways to drill. The one politician in the cabinet who at least half gets the issue, Ed Milliband, have tried to sack him. They have failed us on climate like they have failed us on so many things. And we are now

We're now past the point where we can hope they'll change course. Its politics is one of managed decline and it's dressed up in this weird national renewal and draped in reformbaiting policym more of the same from K star won't just fail us now. It will hand this country on a plate to the forces around Nigel Farage. That's what's at stake here. We are not in a situation where we can hope they'll get better or we just need to express concern.

We're in a moment of change. And it is our time, the Green Party's time, to be bold. And that is why Labor councilors are defecting. It's why Labor members are joining. It's why thousands upon thousands of ex Labor voters are now saying enough is enough and are putting across by the Green Party for the first time because Labour's arrogant assumptions that it is entitled to anyone's vote, those assumptions end today.

There are so many people in this country who need us right now. Now last month I thanked my boyfriend Richie who works in paliative care. I got pretty emotional. I'm not going to do that again. I've got a speech to finish.

But I was emotional because I see the work both Richie and all his colleagues I am gonna get emotional. Both all Richie does and his colleagues do every single day for people in their final chapters of life. I remember years ago when Richie first started working at the hospice. I was worried about what every day would be like dealing with the weight of working in such an environment. But actually it's the complete opposite.

They often say in hospices, no one enjoys life more than those who work with people who are dying. And so, as well as thanking again my wonderful boyfriend, it's a moment to recognize how many people across our country are doing these jobs, caring for people, working for the public, showing kindness and compassion. That's the most patriotic thing I could possibly imagine. And while I'm thanking people, I want to thank all the patriots working inside the Green Party because you're all working towards the goal of a better country. from our MPs, our peers, our assembly members, our counselors, our staff team, all our volunteers, every single one of you for putting in this work for our country.

Thank you. We've got a huge amount of work to do in just a few months time. We have an incredibly important set of elections and our sights are set high. Look at next year alone and get ready for some bold politics. We are fighting to win our first ever directly elected mayor in Hackne.

We in fact we're campaigning to win more seats in more places than ever before and we are on the very cusp of winning our first ever green seat on the Senate. And that's just the first step. Piece by piece, brick by brick, we are building a party that represents every corner of this country so that in 2029 or whenever the general election comes, we will be fighting to win more seats than ever before. We will convert our 39 second places into many new MPs. So whether it's Anthony Slaughter and Tessa Marshall in the Senith or Zoe Garbett and Dylan Lauren Hackne of the hundreds of people who we will turn into counselors, we are not messing around.

We are here and we are ready to win. Now, they say you should end big speeches on huge applause, but I actually want to end on a much smaller tiny moment, a small gesture, but it's something that's really stuck with me this month, and I want to share it with all of you now. So, I went to visit the Dusty Knuckle. It's a bakery that employs people who have just come out of prison. Mentors go to visit people just before they leave, and they smooth over that transition process to give everyone a fresh start in life.

It was an amazing visit and I was humbled to spend time listening and talking to so many different people, each with their own different story. The one that really stuck with me though was a story about a man who'd just come out his first day out of prison. He arrived terrified of this new life. He was a little late because it had been years since he'd used public transport. There was a cup of tea waiting for him.

Someone knowing he was going to be late had made the time to make a stranger a cup of tea. A simple act of kindness from one stranger to another. That's what this country is when it's at its best. And that matters today of all days. It's thoughtful.

It's considerate. And it's kind. This May is huge. Hateful, divisive politics will be on the ballot paper. We can and we must reject that.

Let instead let's look after each other. The Green Party's moment is now. We are ready. Thank you, conference. Let's go.