Eco entrepreneur Dale Vince said he believes Zack Polanski, the newly elected leader of the Green Party, could become a “leftwing Nigel Farage”, praising the 42-year-old’s ability to communicate directly with voters while stopping short of pledging financial backing.
Speaking on Times Radio and later on Twitter, Mr Vince — an environmental businessman who has previously supported Labour and funded climate causes — said Polanski was “exactly what the Green Party needs” and that the new leader “very much gets the concept” of green populism. He likened Polanski’s style to recent populist figures, saying they have shown how to “cut through, communicating to people”.
Polanski won the Green Party leadership in a landslide last week, defeating a joint ticket of MPs Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns by 20,411 votes to 3,705. His campaign framed the party as representing “the 99 per cent” against “the 1 per cent”, a message observers described as eco-populist. The result prompted public congratulations from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP Zarah Sultana, both of whom said they looked forward to working with Polanski.
Corbyn praised Polanski’s campaign for taking on “the rich and powerful” and standing up for marginalised communities, while Polanski’s victory renewed discussion among some left-leaning commentators about potential co-operation between the Greens and a new party projected by Corbyn and Sultana.
Polanski has urged left-of-centre voters to back the Green Party immediately rather than wait for new political groupings to form, saying there was no time to delay action on environmental and social issues. The new leader is a former actor and, earlier in his career, marketed himself briefly as a hypnotist; a 2013 newspaper article reported he claimed to be able to help women increase breast size, a story that led to him being labelled by some commentators as the “boob whisperer.”
He is also a former Extinction Rebellion activist and was arrested at a demonstration in 2019. Vince, who previously funded Extinction Rebellion, said he ceased financial support during the group’s high-profile civil disobedience campaign in and around London.
Vince said he admired Polanski’s campaigning approach but did not commit to donating to the Green Party as he has supported other environmental causes in the past. On Twitter he added: “Zack might very well be Britain’s second green populist — he very much gets the concept and embodies it well. (The difference) between him and me is he leads a party and that’s exciting. Right wing populists have been showing us how it’s done for a while now, time for a green one.”
Polanski, a sitting member of the London Assembly, has pursued a platform combining environmental policies with broad economic and social appeals intended to reach voters beyond the party’s traditional base. His supporters say the approach could expand the Greens’ electoral reach; critics warn that populist tactics risk diluting specific policy commitments.
The Green Party’s leadership change comes amid a fragmented political landscape in which new formations and shifting alliances are being discussed on the left. Polanski’s immediate priorities will include consolidating party unity after the contest, advancing the Greens’ climate agenda, and deciding how aggressively to pursue electoral collaboration with other left-of-centre figures and organisations.
Vince’s remarks underline a growing interest among some donors and activists in leaders who can translate environmental concerns into messages that resonate with a wider electorate. Whether Polanski’s strategy will broaden the party’s appeal or provoke internal tensions remains to be seen as he begins his term at the helm.