Speaking exclusively to The National, Zack Polanski said he could “totally understand” why Scottish Green members voted to axe formal association with his party and said it would be a “measure of success” in his time as leader if the relationship could be rekindled.
In October 2022, Scottish Green members voted to suspend formal association with their sister party until the GPEW addressed “both issues of transphobia and respect for the Scottish Green Party, our independence as a party, and the devolution settlement”.
The two parties have always been separate organisations, but the suspension of ties meant GPEW members would not be able to automatically attend certain meetings of the Scottish Greens.
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Asked about how he reflected on the episode personally, Polanski – who was elected GPEW leader earlier this week with 85% of the membership vote – told The National: “I’m really sad about the situation.
“Although it wasn’t for me to decide, I can totally understand why the Scottish Greens made that decision.
“I went to the Scottish Greens conference in 2022 when I was first elected as deputy leader to go and talk to members. This was just before the disaffiliation was on the agenda and I was there to speak to people about why this was happening.
“Some of the most powerful conversations I had in my time as deputy leader were with trans members of the Scottish Greens who were very clear that they were very thankful for my solidarity and the work I was doing, but they were also clear about how they felt the England and Wales Green Party had in the past made decisions that they felt were alienating and hurtful to them.
“So I will see a measure of success in my time as Green Party of England and Wales [leader] to rebuild that relationship with the Scottish Greens.”
While he stressed that any future working relationship would ultimately be up to the memberships of both parties, Polanski said he was open to a conversation about it.
He went on: “Of course, it’s not just for me and the new co-leaders of the Scottish Greens to decide, it’s up to the membership of both bodies and what that looks like is not for me to determine, but I’m really hopeful and open to the conversation about what future working relationships look like.”
Asked if he would be actively making any moves to rebuild links between the two parties, he said: “I think it should largely be led by Scottish Green members.
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“I would be happy to speak at any time about the fact that the Green Party of England and Wales is unambiguously a trans inclusive party where we will be working day in, day out to ensure, as well lowering bills and tackling the cost of living crisis, we’re also in complete solidarity with all groups that are being drowned out by not just the right-wing press and the media but, let’s be honest, this Labour Government too.”
Polanski said “trans rights are human rights” and, as a member of the LGBT community, he would always offer “full solidarity”.
He said advice given by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to Labour that transgender people should be banned from single-sex spaces was “horrific”.
“It feels like there is a constituency around the world right now, that started in America, largely funded by fossil fuel companies in terms of the gender critical movement, that will stop at nothing to remove trans people from our society or stop them accessing basic services,” he said.
“People sometimes ask ‘why do you talk about trans issues so much?’ and I want to be really clear that the thing I talk about more than anything is inequality, but trans people are even more so affected by rising food prices and rising bills and mass inequality.
“So it’s vital we make sure the people in the poorest communities, whether that’s migrants, disabled people, many of the LGBT community, if we amplify their voices and raise up their living standards, that actually raises up everyone’s standards.”
Last year, Green MP Sian Berry told The National she had been saddened by the formal split with the Scottish Greens, but added her party had “many problems left to solve” and the decision had “its basis”.
A year before the vote, Berry had stepped down as the party’s co-leader, citing an internal party conflict over transgender rights and stating there is “an inconsistency between the sincere promise to fight for trans rights and inclusion in my work and the message sent by the party’s choice of frontbench representatives”.
She said there was still a “mature and friendly” relationship between the two parties and the Scottish Green members had been “perfectly entitled to criticise us in the way they did”.
The Scottish Greens have been approached for comment.
