Shortly before 1pm on 4 October a line of protesters, all clinging to a long piece of red cloth, began to assemble on Bournemouth beach. Green Party delegates – organised by the campaign group Greens Organise – were forming a “red line for Palestine”. All three members of the Greens’ leadership team were in attendance (Zack Polanski and his deputies, Mothin Ali and Rachel Millward). They stood on the sand, flanked by activists and Green Party members grasping a banner which read “Sanctions Now: Stop Arming Israel”. Ali, who had become emotional in his conference speech earlier that morning, held a megaphone and led protesters in chants of “Free Palestine”. A solo St George’s Cross (unusual for its presence in a Gaza protest) flapped solemnly in the wind among a sea of Palestinian flags.
This demonstration took place in a difficult political moment for the UK. Following the anti-Semitic attacks on a synagogue in North Manchester on Friday, the politics of the middle east and the UK’s relation to them has been dragged back into the limelight. The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary have urged people not to attend pro-Palestine protests this weekend as a sign of respect: the Green Party clearly believes that the government’s framing is based on a false dichotomy. Polanski – himself a Jewish man from North Manchester – told Sky News on Friday morning that conflating the Jewish community and the ongoing genocide in Gaza is “deeply irresponsible”. He added: “putting those two things together, as a Jewish person makes me feel personally more at risk”.
This moment is symbolic of the new Green Party: louder, more left wing and more willing to take on the government and their detractors head on. Since the election of Zack Polanski as the party’s leader just over a month ago, this shift in the party’s politics has become increasingly public, and popular. Bounding onto the conference stage this morning before giving her inaugural speech as deputy leader, Millward told delegates that the Green Party is now the fastest growing political movement in the UK. The party now has more members (83,500) than the Lib Dems (83,170).
This energy and excitement for a new Green moment – or “second Green surge” as it was described by the party’s former leader, Natalie Bennett – hung thick in the air at the party’s conference. Polanski’s election certainly seems to have marked a change in tack for the party: this conference has seen more new members attend than ever before, including a massive increase in applications for press accreditation.
All eyes were on the party yesterday as Polanski delivered his inaugural leaders’ speech to rapturous applause. And, as one member told me, for the first time ever, there have been evening parties and boozy fringe events for party members to attend. Even this year’s merch was unexpectedly popular. Mugs decorated with a grinning Polanski and the catchy slogan, “Zacktivist”, sold out within hours on the first day (the ‘Carla Denyer for a wealth tax’ t-shirts seemingly proved harder to shift).
Not everyone was happy. Several former members who had been kicked out of the party for their views on trans rights have now formed their own group outside of the party – ‘Greens in Exile’. Brandishing posters and causing a general nuisance, one or two of these scorned activists attempted to stage a counter protest against the Red Line for Palestine. The group also managed to infiltrate several conference motions, heckling trans members and attempting to disrupt motions related to trans rights.
Though this is clearly a new era for the Greens many of the party’s signature tells still littered the conference hall. Unlike Labour Party conference, where wandering through the exhibition stalls can often feel more like schmoozing in the business lounge, Green Party conference has a noticeable lack of corporate sponsors. This, at times, made it feel more village fete than party conference (and noticeably lighter on merch) but chimes with the Greens’ principled rejection of what they would describe as the “corporate takeover” of politics and media.
The party’s policies are decided by the membership: and party conference is the arena in which this takes place. Posters calling on other members to back various motions being put forward over the course of the conference’s three days were left littered across tables and blue tacked to walls around the centre. One which, if passed, would see the party call for the abolition of private landlords will be voted on tomorrow morning. Those proposing the motion expect it to go through. Another, passed on Saturday, looked to reform trans healthcare in the NHS.
All of the food served at the conferences various cafes was either vegetarian or vegan: delegates were offered various combinations which included beans, nachos or a jacket potato. One option – a vegan hot dog – claimed to be the best in the world (questionable). Oat milk was in high demand. Men in blue suits – a staple of Labour party conference – were nowhere to be found, outnumbered by Lucy and Yak fleeces, Doc Martens and keffiyehs.
There was a raft of familiar faces in attendance. Green Party grandee, Caroline Lucas, could be spotted dashing between panel events, eventually managing to catch a moment for a quiet cup of tea with Springwatch’s Chris Packham. Owen Jones, whose left-wing campaign group We Deserve Better has been working on forming potential alliances between the Greens and Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s haphazard new party, was also in attendance. (Jones backed the Green Party last year after quitting Labour ahead of the 2024 general election).
Comfortable in his new political home, and surveying the scene around us, Owen Jones told me: “I doubt these guys will rescind my pass.”
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