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‘Wales is my number one priority,’ says Green Party leader Zack Polanski

By Mark Mansfield
Zack Polanski at United Voice of the World in London after being announced as the new leader of the Green Party. Picture date: Tuesday September 2, 2025.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said winning seats in next year’s Senedd election is his “number one priority”, declaring that the party is ready to make a historic breakthrough in Wales.

Speaking to ITV Wales’ Sharp End, Mr Polanski said the Greens are “listening to the people of Wales” and have ambitious plans ahead of the 2026 election.

“Winning one seat in the Senedd would be a huge achievement because we’ve never had Green representation before,” he said. “But when I look at what’s happening in the Wales Green Party, I think that would actually be unambitious at this point. We’ve more than doubled our membership in England and Wales — but in Wales, we’ve tripled it.”

The Greens have never won a seat in the Senedd, but their support has been steadily increasing. A recent ITV Cymru Wales poll showed the party’s popularity continuing to grow, particularly among younger and environmentally conscious voters.

Mr Polanski said he believes the next election could be “transformative” for the party in Wales.

“Winning two or even three Senedd seats would not only be a major breakthrough for the Welsh Green Party, but also a significant opportunity for the people of Wales,” he said.

Since becoming leader earlier this year, Mr Polanski has emphasised his commitment to strengthening the Welsh branch of the party, describing Wales as “at the heart of our future success”.

Independence

He also reiterated his personal support for Welsh independence, arguing that successive Westminster governments have “neglected” Wales.

“It’s never about lecturing people, certainly not as a politician based in London, about what’s best for the people of Wales,” he said.

“People here tell me they feel the Senedd doesn’t have enough powers, that too many decisions are still being made in Westminster. For decades now, we’ve seen poor people in Wales get poorer and the gap between rich and poor getting bigger.”

While stressing that independence is “a decision for the people of Wales”, Mr Polanski said greater self-determination could help tackle inequality and environmental challenges more effectively.

“I believe the best way to serve people is for Wales to have independence — but that’s a choice for the Welsh people,” he said.

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27 comments

Felicity

The Greens are likely to capture a lot of support from previous Labour voters from the Corbyn era. Plaid need to stress their home-grown credentials to stay the obvious progressive choice.

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CapM

So another party to add to the list of those that want to mine our votes in order to realise their ambitions in England.

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Felicity

Yes, so obviously opportunistic. Both the Greens and Reform will likely get votes based on fantasy promises.

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Jeff

Too much wrong with the greens for my money. Be interesting to see what they get.

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CapM

They are apparently pro independence for Cymru so you may get a more interesting outcome than you might want.

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Ben

The frustration and bitterness at parochial Welsh views of the world in TH Parry-Williams' poem 'Hon' comes to mind.

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CapM

Where have you found 'The frustration and bitterness at parochial Welsh views'in the article and comments prior to your comment?

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Ernie The Smallholder

The Welsh Green Party must work in alliance with the established party of Wales: Plaid Cymru to overcome colonialism from the external threat of Reform UK and their imperialists and to build the institutions we need as an independent nation. It is in the interests of both our parties and the future of Cymru Wales.

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Davie

Without preference voting a vote for the Greens is a vote for Reform in May.

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Austin

Depends where you live, unfortunately the PR systems quite high lower limit does mean tactical voting is still important though (Ironically, Labour may suffer from the high lower limits they put in to stop smaller parties)

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Davie

I'd like to hear from a voting system nerd but my understanding is small parties are disadvantaged in this new system, so not voting for a party that could actually beat Reform is going to help Reform.

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Tucker

A vote for Labour is a vote for reform in May.

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TheOtherJones

From some of the comments, I just want to say that Plaid are not entitled to demand Green votes. For some of us Plaid’s support of nuclear, the royals, conservative views on farming, fox hunting and Welsh purity tests from some of their supporters is a big turn off. Yes, there is a lot in common beyond that and in the new system a strong Green vote would be good for Plaid as it provides a more aligned potential partner for Government and could remove Labour from that equation.

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CapM

Tell me more of these 'Welsh purity tests' I've not heard of them before.

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TheOtherJones

“Not a proper Welsh party.” “Another English party.” “Feigning interest in Wales.” “There’s only one party that cares about Wales.” Etc etc etc.

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In reply to TheOtherJones

CapM

From the Green Party website some examples{my highlighting with bold] 'The Constitution is the comprehensive organising document for the for the Green Party of England and Wales.' 'The geographical 'remit of the party shall be England and Wales. The party shall maintain links with .....the independent Scottish Green Party, ' 'If, after investigation of complaints received, the Regional Council believes that Wales Green Party is failing to fulfil its obligations under the Constitution or this Appendix, it may, by a two-thirds majority of its members present and voting at a Regional Council meeting, suspend the Autonomous Region status of Wales Green Party' So they clearly not a Welsh Party are they. And as I assume you are aware England has a population many times that of Cymru so it would be rather unrealistic to put our interests before England's should there be a conflict of interest. And you claim criticism of this party is based on 'Welsh purity tests'. Pull the other one.

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Jonathan

In my opinion, the Greens and Plaid Cymru would pick up different sets of voters. Greens would pick up left wing, liberal former Labour Voters in cities and Plaid Cymru's vote base could even be described as small c Conservatives in rural areas. Plaid's issue will be if they can pick up votes from both camps and gain votes from the South Wales Valleys who tend to be socially conservative but more fiscally liberal but not extravagent, very proud of Wales as their country but not supportive of independence and supportive of Brexit.

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Felicity

Not sure that Plaid could be described as small c conservative, that surely must belong to what's left of the LibDems in Wales. Plaid has made inroads into previous LibDem strongholds, but perhaps more to do with their understanding of the rural areas and their concerns.

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James Edwards

Zack is very impressive no doubt about that. They’ll do well in parts of Cardiff but they’ll struggle to make any significant impact anywhere else i reckon

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Felicity

Yes he is. A good confident speaker, good with media interviews, most of all has some energy. His appeal will remain though with the educated leftist middle class.

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Undecided

No he doesn’t isn’t. He is a fantasist, where someone else always pays the bills.

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David Hughes

This Man is a winner,he has what it takes,above all "Honesty" and believability.

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Felicity

We all grasp at straws from time to time, but like Reform, he is a one-man band. Scrutiny of economic policies might reveal the weak points.

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Walter Hunt

A lot of English politicians will discover (or feign) an interest in Wales in the run up to the Senedd election. The results matter to them and their parties at Westminster. The branding of the Green Party of England and Wales as the “Wales Green Party” in Wales is as disingenuous as it is revealing, Viewing Wales as a region rather than a nation is useful to those who accept that that some economic development on this island is a necessary evil if only to avoid civil unrest, but large areas Wales can be left undeveloped and poor.

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TheOtherJones

Zack Polanski has a long standing association with Wales and been involved in campaigns here for years, to say he’s feigning interest is what is disingenuous. It’s also a federated party, not a branch office “branding exercise” of a UK party. Big difference. The Wales Green Party supports independence, so no idea why the claim is that Wales is viewed as a region by the party.

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CapM

Isn't the Scottish Green party a separate entity to the party ZP heads;.

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Matthew

The Greens and Zack Polanski are hoovering up votes because they've recognised that most of the issues in our society are due to growing wealth inequality and we need (among other things) wealth taxes to tip the balance. I think people on the right like Farage know this too but are trying to distract people from the obvious by blaming other groups in society. It's up to the main parties to recognise this and amend their messaging so we can stop sliding to the right which won't fix anything. If they don't the Greens will win lots of seats, but so will the likes of Reform.

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The Greens and Zack Polanski are hoovering up votes because they've recognised that most of the issues in our society are due to growing wealth inequality and we need (among other things) wealth taxes to tip the balance. I think people o...

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