Lord Mann calls for EHRC probe into Green Party as Polanski is told to resign by his own Jewish members
From the Newshound archive · first published 9 October 2026.
Zack Polanski, whose net approval rating of -28 makes him less popular than Nigel Farage, faces a crunch Holborn and St Pancras by-election tomorrow.
The government's independent adviser on antisemitism, Lord Mann, has demanded Britain's equalities watchdog launch a formal investigation into the Green Party, accusing leader Zack Polanski of "running away" from his party's vote to declare Zionism a form of racism. Vivien Lichtenstein, chair of the Jewish Greens, called on Polanski to resign on Friday, branding his silence before the conference motion a "big mistake". Polanski lost the Holborn and St Pancras by-election to Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali overnight, and told BBC Breakfast he would "absolutely" stay on as leader.
Mann said the Greens are "denying Jewish members their right to identify as they choose" and called on the EHRC to act "immediately".
A newly elected Green disciplinary committee member, Halima Brewer, previously wrote that she had been "naïve" to oppose Hamas and shared posts calling Israelis "an army of international thieves and murderers".
Former Green leader Caroline Lucas called the motion "dangerous" and "flawed from top to bottom", while a former Green leader revealed many opponents "were persuaded not to campaign publicly" against it.
