Green Commons Leader Warns Party Is Vulnerable to Capture by Extremists
Ellie Chowns said she wants to ensure the Greens are not “vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists” after members adopted a motion declaring Zionism a form of racism. It passed by 1,022 votes to 813 — about 0.4% of a 230,000 membership — which, she said, showed that “something isn’t working in our structures and our policy-making process”.
Ms Chowns, who lost a co-leadership contest to Zack Polanski in 2025, called the policy “significant and damaging”; it also backs a single democratic state in all of historic Palestine. Mr Polanski, who is Jewish, says he would have voted against it, but he missed the debate to campaign in Holborn and St Pancras, which Labour held this week. The chair of the Jewish Greens has said he should resign; others in that group have tabled a motion of no confidence in her. Caroline Lucas argues that the party’s constitution predates its MPs and leaves it exposed to entryism. The Board of Deputies and the Jewish Leadership Council have condemned the motion.