It’s been a turbulent autumn for Britain’s Green Party and the broader left, with fresh political divisions and media battles playing out against a backdrop of campus protests and national soul-searching. As the Green Party’s annual conference wrapped up in October 2025, party leader Zack Polanski found himself at the center of attention—not only for his bold political stances but also for his fraught relationship with the media and the shifting landscape of left-wing politics in the UK.
Polanski, who swept to leadership in a landslide, has made headlines for his unapologetic calls for a wealth tax, his defense of trans+ rights, and his willingness to stand up to what he describes as “the right’s lies about immigration.” According to Socialist Worker, the Green Party conference this month saw delegates take a radical turn, with one particularly striking vote: the decision to proscribe the Israel Defence Forces as a terrorist organisation. Such moves have positioned the Greens as a party unafraid to stake out controversial ground, especially on issues related to international conflict and social justice.
Yet, for all the boldness on display at conference, Polanski and his party have struggled to break through the mainstream media’s wall of indifference. As reported by The New European, Green Party members were left fuming when Polanski was not invited onto Laura Kuenssberg’s flagship Sunday Politics show the weekend of the conference. The party had specifically requested a one-on-one interview between Polanski and Kuenssberg following his election victory, but were rebuffed by the show’s producers. The reason given? A horrific anti-Semitic attack on a Manchester synagogue, which reportedly led producers to withdraw their promise of an interview. The irony wasn’t lost on observers—Polanski is both from Manchester and is the only Jewish leader of a UK political party.
The snub did not go unnoticed. Green Party members took to X (formerly Twitter) to accuse Kuenssberg’s show of blatant bias, with one furious member posting, “Laura Kuenssberg’s bias couldn’t be louder.” The outcry continued when Polanski was excluded from the show’s lineup again the following weekend. Eventually, the BBC relented, agreeing to have Polanski appear in the studio. There was just one catch: Laura Kuenssberg herself would be on holiday, so the interview would be conducted by Victoria Derbyshire instead. For Polanski and his supporters, it felt like a bittersweet victory—one step forward, but not quite the recognition they had hoped for.
This media drama unfolded as the left in Britain found itself at a crossroads, with the emergence of a new political force: Your Party. While the Greens have long been viewed as the established home for progressive voters, Your Party has attracted attention—and controversy—for its promise of a more radical, movement-based approach to politics. Yet, as Socialist Worker points out, Your Party has been dogged by damaging divisions that have alienated many of the 800,000 people who initially signed up to support it.
At the heart of the debate is a fundamental question: what should the left’s ultimate goal be? For some, the answer lies in electoralism—winning seats, gaining influence, and pushing for change from within the system. For others, including many at Socialist Worker, the vision is bigger and more radical. They argue that a new left party should go beyond elections, acting as a catalyst for mass movements, strikes, protests, and local democratic organisation. “Movements must be central because they involve action not words,” the publication insists. “They provide a glue that holds people together and pitches people into confrontation with their enemies.”
But Your Party’s internal dynamics have raised eyebrows. The six Independent Alliance MPs who form its backbone are united in their support for Palestinian liberation. However, aside from prominent figures like Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, the party lacks a broader set of socialist policies. Some MPs, such as Shockat Adam, have openly argued that the party should not be “anti-wealth” or “alienate landlords” with class politics, while others, like Adnan Hussain, have expressed opposition to trans+ rights. These stances have led critics to warn that, if these MPs remain in charge, Your Party could end up with a platform to the right of the Greens—hardly the radical alternative some had hoped for.
Still, Socialist Worker maintains that the new party’s potential lies in its willingness to mobilise for causes that matter to ordinary people. They imagine a future where Your Party supporters are encouraged to keep mobilising for Palestine, protest against fascists and racists, and campaign against landlords in their communities. Achieving the ambitious promises made by both Polanski and Sultana, the publication argues, requires direct confrontation with the power of capital and the state—mobilising the social power of working-class people through strikes, protests, and collective organisation.
Meanwhile, the battle for free speech and activism has reached Britain’s university campuses, where students and workers protesting the ongoing genocide in Gaza have faced a series of chilling crackdowns. A Freedom of Information request by Liberty Investigates revealed that several universities agreed to monitor students’ social media posts ahead of career fairs. The reason? Some of Britain’s largest arms companies—including Raytheon, Rolls-Royce, and BAE Systems, all of which supply weapons or components for Israel’s F-35 fighter jets—wanted to recruit on campus without facing opposition. Universities, it seems, were all too willing to comply with their requests.
These revelations have sparked outrage among activists, who see them as part of a broader pattern of suppressing peaceful protest on campus. Right-wing commentators often decry a supposed “free speech crisis” at universities, yet, as Socialist Worker notes, these same voices fall silent when it comes to the issue of Palestine. The double standard is hard to ignore, and it’s left many students and staff feeling betrayed by institutions that are supposed to champion academic freedom and open debate.
For the Greens and Your Party alike, the challenge is clear: how to channel the energy of mass movements and grassroots activism into meaningful political change, while navigating the treacherous waters of media scrutiny and internal divisions. As Polanski prepares for his long-awaited appearance on the BBC’s flagship politics show—albeit without Laura Kuenssberg—the stakes could hardly be higher. The coming months will test whether Britain’s left can unite around a common vision, or whether factionalism and media marginalisation will continue to hold it back.
One thing is certain: the struggle for political relevance, social justice, and genuine transformation is far from over. With new parties, new leaders, and a new generation of activists refusing to back down, the story of Britain’s left is still being written—one protest, one policy, and one interview at a time.
