Green MP Calls for Reforms to Prevent Extremist Influence

Questions about internal democracy and political oversight have intensified within the Green Party of England and Wales after a controversial policy vote prompted MP Ellie Chowns to call for safeguards against extremist influence. Chowns said the decision on Zionism exposed weaknesses in the party's policymaking system, as a motion approved at the annual conference received support equivalent to approximately 0.4% of total membership.

The motion classified Zionism, the movement for a Jewish state, as racism and supported a single Palestinian state rather than a two-state solution. According to the source report, just over 1,000 votes backed the measure, raising concerns about whether the party's decentralized decision-making arrangements adequately reflect its growing membership.

Chowns, the party's leader in the House of Commons, argued that a policy with such significant consequences should not be adopted through a process that fails to demonstrate broad support among members.

"I don't think that policy, 'Zionism is racism', represents the large majority of Green party members, nor of people in the country," Chowns told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Saturday.

She said the party should concentrate on criticizing the Israeli government's actions rather than becoming consumed by disputes over contested political terminology. Chowns lost a bid for the party's co-leadership to Zack Polanski in 2025.

Chowns also questioned Polanski's handling of the controversy. The Green Party leader for England and Wales missed the conference debate and vote while campaigning in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, where Labour defeated him on Friday.

Polanski received just under 33% of the vote and said he intended to remain leader despite calls for him to resign. The party typically holds leadership elections every two years, with the next contest expected in summer 2027.

After the byelection, Polanski said he would have opposed the motion had he attended the conference. He cited the rejection of two amendments he supported, which argued that Palestinians should determine the future structure of their state rather than have a one-state arrangement imposed on them.

Chowns said Polanski's handling of the motion had been disappointing but suggested he could help bring members together after acknowledging problems with the measure.

"I don't know if there are extremists and racists in my party but I want to make sure that my party isn't vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists, I want to make sure my party's policies represent the views of the majority of members of the Green party who absolutely are not that sort of person at all," she said.

She emphasized that members should be able to disagree on the issues covered by the motion while ensuring party policy reflects the wider membership.

"Of course its legitimate to have difference of opinions including on many of the matters that this motion covers," she added.

The dispute has also divided members of the Jewish Greens. Vivien Lichtenstein, the group's chair, criticized Polanski for avoiding the vote and called for him to resign during an interview with Times Radio on Friday.

Other Jewish Greens members said Lichtenstein's position did not represent the group's majority view. They also said a motion of no confidence in her had been tabled.

The controversy comes amid heightened tensions between the UK and Israel after the Labour government imposed sanctions on illegal settlements in occupied Palestine. Israel responded by attempting to close the British consulate in Jerusalem.

Research conducted before the Green Party vote found that Jewish voters who supported the party felt a weaker attachment to Israel, even as the proportion of British Jews identifying as Zionist increased between 2022 and 2025.