Could Zack Polanski Save Britain?

Are we too far gone? Is this the end of life as we know it? Will Britain even survive much longer?

It has become painfully apparent- Britain is on its knees. As a young person living in London in my short few years of adulthood I have witnessed life become increasingly unlivable- and not just for people my age. The cost of groceries, the rental shortages as if extortionate rents weren't bad enough, Brexit, rising unemployment, stagnant wages, graduate job crisis. Yeah, its pretty bad, and that's without even factoring in the horror show that is attempting to visit a NHS dentist or get a doctors appointment. Now we face a fork in the roads of history- the dilemma of Reform UK and the Green Party becoming the first and second largest parties respectively, whilst the familiarity of the two party system dominated for so long by Labour and the Conservatives has been blown out the water. At this cross roads we see down one street a capitalist hell-scape, racism, nationalism, worship of the capitalist elite, and down the other a utopia- socialism, climate consciousness, support for Palestine, and wealth taxes. And we have to pray that we, the British make the right choice. After Brexit, I don't have much faith.

So, am I being idealistic, or could Zack Polanski save the absolute mess that has become Britain? (spoiler, it wont be easy)

It’s not dramatic to say the UK is in a bad state. A good majority of people I know are moving, or planning on moving abroad: leaving the UK for European countries or a nomadic lifestyle in pursuit of a better life, better prospects, better cost of living, better quality of life. The UK, for many, has become stagnant, a dead end. For people in their twenties it’s impossible to even leave their parents’ homes, and for the ones who do they’re met with bidding wars on dingy, mould riddled one beds, the horrors of HMO's, and grocery shops so expensive you need a small loan just to go to Tesco. Food and non-alcoholic drink prices alone peaked at a 19.2% annual increase in 2023, a forty five year high. And don’t get me started on the cost of electricity. I wince every time I see my bill, and I don’t even put the heating on.

We see around us our services collapsing in on themselves: the NHS with a shortage of doctors, yet medicine graduates without sufficient jobs. Ridiculous wait times, and a fight tooth and nail just to see a GP in person. TFL robs you every night at 3 am, and it costs more to take a train to Manchester than it does to fly to any major European city with Easy Jet, and at least Easy Jet you actually get a seat. Oh, and it’s only getting worse.

Now we see the graduate job crisis: graduates fresh from university have found hiring by employers has dropped by 35% over the last year. If you do get a job, good luck making more than about £12.20 an hour, even with a degree. We feel hopeless. People older than me can only dream of owning a home, or even being able to rent anything other than a cramped one bed. Housing is unaffordable, food is unaffordable, everything’s going up in cost, and yes, we have lost hope.

I cannot express how urgent it is that we see reform, and no, not Reform UK. I mean a complete overhaul of the broken system we see in this country.

What Does Polanski’s Green Stand For, and Who Is Polanski?

When I say the UK needs reform, this is the guy I’m talking about, not that sellout Farage. Enter Zack Polanski. Until recently he was the deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales; now he’s the full-time leader after a landslide vote, securing over 84% support in his party’s leadership election.

Polanski grew up in Salford, studied drama at Aberystwyth, worked as an actor and hypnotherapist, and eventually found his way into London politics. He’s not your polished career politician, and thank god for that. His path isn’t one of corporate internships or cushy policy roles, it’s a patchwork of real world experience, public service, and genuine conviction. He talks like someone who’s actually lived through the same chaos as the rest of us.

Now he sits on the London Assembly, chairing committees on the environment, the economy, and fire resilience. But Polanski’s ambition goes far beyond local governance. He’s said it himself: the Greens should not simply be a niche party of idealists, they should replace Labour.

In his own words, “We are not here to be disappointed by you, we are not here to be concerned by you, we’re here to replace you.”

His proposals are much needed, bravely radical, and yet somehow so logical that you have to ask how no one’s acted sooner. Wealth taxes on billionaires. Rent controls. Publicly owned energy. Climate justice tied directly to social justice, not two separate issues but one fight. It’s a programme that feels less like idealism and more like common sense after a decade of managed decline.

Why does this matter now?

Because we’re at the fork in the road I mentioned earlier: one direction leading to total collapse, the other to something different, something necessary. Polanski’s Greens are trying to walk that second path. The polls show momentum: recent figures place the Greens at about 13% support, their highest ever; membership has surged past 100,000, proof of the growing discontent with the status quo. And with the recent victory of Zohran Mamdani, it’s starting to feel like socialism and reform are back on the menu across the West, and we are hungry.

Let’s not kid ourselves, the reality is scary. More in Common states that if a general election was held today, Reform UK would win. Yet the Green Party is experiencing record growth.

The question is, is that growth enough?

The voters are angry. We are all angry. We are disillusioned, cold, and hungry. The promise of “something else” is appealing, honestly. The electorate has proven one thing: we will not settle for the old script.

So here’s my prediction (yes, idealistic, but what can I say, I’m a glass half full type of guy).

The Greens, under Zack Polanski, will start converting these protest numbers into real seats. Local elections, mayoral contests, even Westminster by elections will show gains.

• The old two party system (Labour and the Conservatives) will be irreversibly weakened; the trust is gone, the brand is broken.

• If the Greens keep this rate of momentum, their platform of wealth taxes, rent controls, and the climate social justice link will move from fringe to mainstream. And once it’s mainstream, the how of policy becomes less radical and more inevitable.

Britain isn’t dead yet, but that pulse is getting pretty weak. If we save her, it won’t be by going backwards. It will be by going forward and trying something new, banding together to push for the interests and betterment of the common people, not the capitalist elite.

So, can Zack Polanski save Britain? The answer is yes, but we have to make the choice to be brave, to dismantle old systems and challenge the status quo. We have to band together in the face of division politics. At the end of the day, it won’t be Zack Polanski who will save Britain. It will be you and me, and everyone else. It’ll be us making the right choices and standing together, unified, as one nation, undivided by class, race, gender or religion. The fate of Britain lies in the hands of the British, so will we choose salvation or decay, resistance or submission?