Green Party leader Zack Polanski reached a record low approval rating of minus 36 following a party conference motion and a by-election defeat. A new survey conducted by Ipsos in October 2026 found that 52 percent of the public holds an unfavourable view of Polanski, a six-point increase since September, while 16 percent expressed a positive view.
The decline in polling follows the Green Party conference in Brighton, where members passed a motion describing Zionism as "racism." The motion passed with approximately 1,000 members in favor and 800 against. Following this vote, Polanski was defeated in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Polanski stated on Friday, October 16, that he sought to distance himself from the vote, noting he would only have supported an amended version of the motion.
Internal party figures have called for Polanski’s resignation, including Vivien Lichtenstein, leader of the Jewish Greens, who cited his absence from the debate on the Zionism motion as a "big mistake." Former leader Caroline Lucas accused him of a failure in leadership and another senior figure described the situation as "untenable." Externally, the Labour Party has issued an ultimatum to local Green groups in existing coalitions, stating they must disown the motion or lose Labour's support.
The impact extends to the competitive standing of the Green Party relative to other political groups. Keiran Pedley, UK director of politics at Ipsos, noted that 2024 Green voters are now nearly as positive toward Prime Minister Andy Burnham (who holds a plus eight net score) as they are toward their own leader. The negative rating of minus 36 places Polanski below other national figures such as Kemi Badenoch (minus 12), Sir Ed Davey (minus 15), and Nigel Farage (minus 31).
What happens next depends on how local Green groups respond to Labour’s demand to disown the conference motion. The source does not provide a specific deadline for these local groups to respond or a date for a potential leadership challenge, though senior members continue to describe the current leadership situation as unsustainable. The party's ability to maintain its influence in local coalitions will likely be determined by these upcoming regional decisions.