Zack Polanski: I went on Question Time – I was blown away by the response

Last night on BBC Question Time, I felt something shift.

The reaction since my appearance on the show has, if I’m being honest, been quite overwhelming. Thousands of messages have poured in from people saying the same thing, that a Green voice on the panel was a breath of fresh air.

And it makes perfect sense.

People across Britain are tired and angry.

Tired of being told to settle for less. Angry of being ignored, priced out, and left behind. And I think that’s why the Green Party is surging right now – not just in the polls – but in hope.

A new poll this week put the Greens on 15%, just two points behind both Labour and the Tories, and three points ahead of the Liberal Democrats. Our membership has now soared to nearly 100,000, up more than 40% since I became leader last month.

This isn’t a protest vote. It’s a movement for change. And we’re just getting started.

In my acceptance speech, I said something that caught the headlines: We’re not here to be disappointed with Labour, we’re here to replace them.

But this wasn’t just a rhetorical flourish, I truly meant it. We’re already seeing their vote plunge as ours rise and we’re winning council elections across the country.

Labour talks about change, but all they’ve really offered is more of the same. People are still struggling to pay their monthly bills and the services we all rely on are crumbling, all while Labour refuses to tax wealth fairly.

They’re too scared to stand up to the powerful. And they have no answer to Reform, who feed off this economic insecurity to sow division.

That’s not leadership. That’s caution dressed up as competence. The Green Party is different.

On the way to Question Time last night in Shrewsbury, as I changed trains, a railway engineer recognised me and crossed the platform to come shake my hand.

A young student soon followed. He wanted to talk to me, I think, because he knew I would listen. 

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I was touched by these small interactions. And afterwards, as I reflected on it, I thought that this is quite possibly the first time in a long time, that either of them have felt seen and properly listened to by a leader of a political party. They felt hope.

During the programme I tried as much as possible to just give my honest answers. Not spin, not rehearsed soundbites, but genuine answers about how we fix this country. It struck me how the panel was so separate from the audience.

When I talked about the need to tax the super-rich I wanted to specifically spell out that I wasn’t talking about hairdressers, plumbers, or those working hard for a living – I was talking about those that make more money while asleep from their wealth than most of us could dream of making by working hard in a year.

I also put to Reform how their former Leader in Wales, Nathan Gill, was in the pocket of Putin – admitting last month to taking bribes to make statements in favour of Russia while being a Member of the European Parliament – and they had no answer. Because patriots don’t peddle for Putin.

Speaking boldly and honestly is what is needed now more than ever. That’s what a lot of the messages I received in the aftermath proved to me.

One said, ‘I think I believe in politics again’ and another that they were just glad to ‘hear such a positive voice for change’. 

Greens exist now to offer a genuine alternative and a real opposition. Not just in rhetoric, but in values and action. We’re willing to say what has gone unsaid for decades: that our economy should work for people and the planet, not just profit.

We’d tax wealth properly to fund our NHS, give carers and nurses the pay they deserve, and invest in the green jobs of the future. We’d end fossil fuel subsidies, stop arming countries committing atrocities, and protect your right to protest.

And, unlike the other parties, we’re not afraid to say where the money will come from: the super-rich and the corporations who have made billions, while millions struggle to heat their homes and do their weekly shop.

People tell me they feel politics has become joyless of late, all fear, no vision. They ask: ‘What does Keir Starmer actually stand for?’ And I think that’s the problem. Politics has lost its sense of purpose.

It’s become a game of headlines, not humanity. But politics should be about building something better. 

That’s why my mission – and the central mission of the Green Party – is to make hope normal again.

Hope that working full-time means being able to afford to get by month-to-month. Hope that our NHS will still be standing when you need it. And hope that your children will inherit a planet worth living on.

People are desperate for honesty, courage, and compassion in politics again. They’re tired of being told that things can’t be different, that we just have to accept rising bills, crumbling public services, and an overheating planet as the price of modern life.

We refuse to accept that. We must provide a real political opposition. Because if politics isn’t about improving people’s lives, then what’s the point of it?

We are proving that things can change, and are changing. From Green councillors delivering warm homes and cleaner air, to MPs pushing for fairer taxes and an end to corporate greed, we are showing what real opposition looks like.

We’re not just saying politics can be bold, honest, and hopeful again. We’re showing it.

We’re showing that a fair, green future isn’t some distant dream. It’s within reach if we unite and together demand it.

So yes, the Greens are on the up. Because Britain is ready for something new.

The era of choosing between bad and worse is over. It’s time to make hope normal again.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

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