“Inspirational” and “everyone loved it” – Green Party members react to Zack Polanski’s conference speech

Zack Polanski gave his keynote speech to the Green Party’s autumn conference today (2 October). He used his speech to – among other things – call for the government to introduce a three-year cap on private sector rents.

But how did the speech go down among the party faithful in the conference hall?

Generally speaking, party members were keen to talk up the speech. Patrick McAlister, a councillor in Bristol told LFF: “I thought it was really good, setting out a positive, bold vision for the future with the progressive politics that the Green Party has always stood up for.”

Similarly, James Meadway, who previously advised the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and now runs the think-tank Verdant, told LFF that Polanski’s speech was “very clear” and “confident”.

Meadway said: “It was a very clear, confident speech, and I think the actual policy ask around [what] we are calling for – the break on rent increases – is a bit of a contrast to what we got from Andy Burnham last week in Labour.

“It was a big vision, and quite a lot of passion going into it even – but very little in terms of what does this actually mean? What is the policy going to look like? What are you going to turn this into?

“So there’s a contrast there and I think a smart one for Zack and the Greens to get into”.

Johann Beckford – cabinet member for finance and corporate at the Green run Haringey council – told LFF: “It was great, I thought – good to show how the Greens lead, Labour follow, shows that we’re clearly setting the tone for political direction of the country and we’ve got to vote Green to get some better policies on a national level.”

Paul Valentine, the Green mayor of Lambeth said: “It was full of enthusiasm and it was important to try and show those dividing lines between the Green Party and the Labour Party at the moment.

“Obviously, they’ve got a bit of a resurgence under Andy Burnham. And I think Zack needs to lay down he lines of what we are as Greens and I think he did that pretty well. We know he’s a brilliant storyteller and he was able to articulate that story in the room, and you could see the atmosphere in the room. Everyone loved it – multiple standing ovations, loads of cheers.”

Former Labour and now Green Party councillor in Southampton Matt Reynard told LFF “It was strong on policy and very inspirational. Ultimately I think we’re going to have to replace the Labour Party.”

Asked if he was disappointed Polanski didn’t mention replacing Labour in the speech, Reynard said: “I think we need to recognise where Labour is at at the moment. They’ve shifted slightly to the left. I don’t think it’s from a moral perspective, I think it’s sheerly a political steer.”

He added: “We’ve got two years until the general election, we’ll see what Labour delivers in that time. I think that’ll be the time for Zack to make a speech about us going into government and replacing the Labour Party.”

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward. This article includes material sourced by Left Foot Forward reporter Olivia Barber