Green MP Ellie Chowns warns party against capture by extremists after Zionism vote

What happened at the Green Party conference

The Green Party must ensure it is not vulnerable to capture by extremists and racists, its Westminster leader Ellie Chowns has warned, following the passage of a controversial conference motion defining Zionism as racism.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Saturday, Chowns described the motion as a significant and damaging policy that fails to reflect the views of the majority of the party's 230,000 members or the wider public.

The policy was endorsed at the annual conference by 1,022 votes to 813. Beyond defining Zionism as an ideology supporting an ethnonationalist Jewish state, the motion commits the Greens to supporting a single democratic Palestinian state across all historic Palestine, including modern-day Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital.

Internal division and leadership fallout

The decision has triggered deep internal fractures. Former party leader Caroline Lucas warned that old constitutional structures leave the Greens open to entryism, where groups join specifically to reshape policy. Lucas stressed that the party must remain welcoming to Jewish members.

Pressure has also built on party leader Zack Polanski following his defeat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, where he secured just under 33 per cent of the vote against Labour. Polanski, who is Jewish, missed the conference debate while campaigning in the by-election. He later stated he would have voted against the final motion because proposed amendments were rejected, though he agreed with its description of Palestinian displacement as underpinned by racist ideology.

Vivien Lichtenstein, chair of the Jewish Greens, called for Polanski to resign over his absence during the debate. However, other members of the group distanced themselves from her statement and tabled a vote of no confidence in Lichtenstein.

How Jewish groups and activists responded

External Jewish organisations condemned the motion. The Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish Leadership Council said in a joint statement that Zionism represents anti-racism by creating a refuge for Jewish people after centuries of persecution.

Conversely, supporters of the resolution defended the outcome. Ashok Kumar of Greens for Palestine said the vote reflected a growing focus on Palestinian liberation among members responding to ongoing violence in the region.

Chowns argued that allowing 0.4 per cent of the membership to set such significant policy demonstrates that the party's decision-making rules are no longer fit for purpose.