Ava sits down with current Green Party leader Zack Polanski and former Green MP Caroline Lucas antarctic sea ice ahead of their Bold Politics Live event for a conversation about their current campaign, political attacks, and whether Labour is panicking ahead of the Gorton and Denton by-election.
Polanski believes the Greens are directly threatening Labour’s base, and that the response from Labour, along with Farage's Reform UK, has been to “flood the zone” with noise and character attacks. The Green leader hits back against headlines about mothers day in india his drug harm reduction policy, as well as several bad faith distortions of Green Party positions.
Lucas strongly condemns what she describes as the weaponisation of drug policy, insisting the Green approach is about regulation, public health and harm reduction. Both accuse opponents of deliberately misrepresenting nuanced policy to score cheap political points, warning that it degrades trust in democracy as an institution.
They also discuss media treatment of Green candidates in Gorton and Denton, including accusations of misogynistic coverage and commuting personal smears. Polanski argues that establishment parties and parts of the press struggle with candidates who don’t fit the Westminster mould, and that attacks often intensify when institutional threats are real.
The bigger question is whether voters who are frustrated with Labour but wary of Reform are coming to the Greens, and whether Polanski and other Green figures like Lucas can build from this base.
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