Zack Polanski: Corbyn's true heir?
5/5/202624 min
Crowds of young people chant his name but the Green leader is "nervous", says Ailbhe Rea.
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A year ago, Zack Polanksi was relatively unknown. Now, he's leading an "eco-populist" movement that has revitalised the Green Party and looks likely to propel a left-wing surge in the May local elections.
Ailbhe Rea profiled the Green leader for the New Statesman, meeting him shortly after he'd been addressing young activists. She found a "sweet, slightly nervous" man who admits he still has much to learn about running a political party.
Here Ailbhe speaks to Anoosh Chakelian about Zack Polanski's political position, his unusual background, and the lessons he might learn from Jeremy Corbyn.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsAnoosh Chakelian· Host0:00
[instrumental music] The New Statesman. Last year, Zac Polanski could walk down the street in peace. Now, after just seven months of leading the Green Party, he goes on visits with a bodyguard, gets mobbed by teens on the tube, and hosts club nights where crowds of young people chant his name. Our political editor, Alva Rey, was given exclusive access to the man of the moment. I'm Anusha Keller and you're listening to The Politics Show from the New Statesman. And Alva, you're joining me down the line from Parliament. Nice to chat to you again. We just thought, you know- Always a risky move- Yeah ...
Ailbhe Rea· Guest0:37
joining down the line.
Anoosh Chakelian· Host0:37
Parliament hasn't quite reached the 21st century with its, with its Wi-Fi, has it? Um.
Ailbhe Rea· Guest0:42
Yeah.
Anoosh Chakelian· Host0:42
But we wanted to... I know this, this is a, this is a profile, brilliant profile, great interview, um, that's been- Thank you ... covered widely since it came out. But we wanted, we haven't actually had a chat about it, um, explicitly on the podcast, so I just wanted to talk to you because I think a lot of our listeners who have felt disillusioned with Labor, um, who are curious about the Greens, would like to know your impressions of this man who has really changed sort of the Green Party's standing in the public imagination since he was elected leader. You went to spend time with him. He was addressing campaigners when you met him. How would you describe him? What was he like?
Ailbhe Rea· Guest1:19
One of the joys of doing this interview, which was rare, is that I had never met Zac Polanski before, because we have to indulge this fiction normally as political journalists