Not since Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership, which ended up being destroyed from within, has there been such excitement and hope around a new political party leader. Zack Polanski, at only 42 years old, became The Green Party leader last September and since then has changed the party from having a single MP to becoming probably the only hope of keeping Reform out of Number 10 at the next election.
Tonight, at Brighton Dome, the party faithful and curious voters gathered for a live episode of his Bold Politics podcast featuring Polanski and special guest, Brighton Pavilion’s former MP Caroline Lucas.
At 7pm, people were still filing into the auditorium so a few minutes later than advertised, local Green Party organiser and tonight’s MC Zac Williams appeared and informed us that tonight’s 1500-strong audience was the biggest ever Green Party event apart from their party conference. However this would soon be beaten by Thursday’s Gorton and Denton by-election where 2,000 volunteers are expected.
There were loud, long cheers as Zack Polanski took to the stage thanking everyone who helped make tonight happen, especially Zac and the podcast producer Ross HL. There followed a brief by-election chat praising candidate Hannah Spencer, and the awful thought of Reform winning, after which he sent Hannah a good luck video from the whole audience.
Pantomime boos came when the boss of Palantir and Peter Mandelson were mentioned and more cheers when he chanted “trans rights are human rights”. Tonight’s guest, Caroline Lucas, received a standing ovation as she appeared and spoke briefly about climate change and adaptation and how communities must work together to support the least well off.
It was clear how much Polanski admires his predecessor as he listened attentively as Lucas gave passionate words of advice about how we should be looking at hope as action and how in 2010 she was the only MP highlighting climate and nature issues and how climate delay has replaced climate change denial. She went on to highlight the importance of the arts and made an interesting comparison between Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Hebrides Overture’ and the decline of the humpback whale population.
This tied in nicely for Polanski to ask what Lucas’s Another England book was about. She gave varied definitions of being English and how to stand against right-wing hate and the shame of the British Empire, while referencing The Tempest and colonialism. Regarding patriotism she used Billy Bragg’s quote that “patriotism is about giving a shit about your country”. She debunked Reform’s false claims about refugees and had a flag chat where she explained it was all about context and the difference between waving Union Jacks to welcome the Lionesses home and hanging Union Jacks on mosques.
Lewes Greens got a shoutout for their work in protecting River Ouse and when asked about the treatment of women in Parliament, she responded that having more female MPs was obviously an improvement but that the language used has gotten much worse and that misogyny and sexism were still rife. She encouraged young women to enter politics as “the Greens will always have your back”.
An interesting diversion was when speaking about becoming an end-of-life doula (a trained, non-medical professional who provides holistic emotional, physical, and spiritual support to individuals and their families throughout the dying process) and the importance of living well and dying well. She spoke of the need for good palliative care and the lack of knowledge around the ritual of death. Polanski pointed out that his boyfriend works in palliative care.
Lucas continued by picking apart Keir Starmer’s mantra of ‘growth growth growth’ and praised Polanski for putting wealth taxes back on the table, citing examples of countries around the world that put people ahead of GDP.
The conversation ended with Polanski asking “what does a good life look like?” Lucas spoke about the need to reduce inequalities in communities, and for everyone to make better use of their time when not working: to sing, to play, to treasure every moment and live in harmony with the natural world. Polanski added “to make hope normal again” to which Lucas concluded “hope must have action to succeed”.
The auditorium lights went up for the audience Q&A, which was bookended by two excellent questions. The first question concerned how to engage with the far right. The person having chosen this question after attending a Tommy Robinson rally to counter-protest and ending up walking with the right wingers.
Lucas stated that everyone wants the best for their families and to try to find out why they support Reform and to explain that it’s billionaires, not refugees in boats who are to blame for the issues they are protesting about.
The penultimate question was about “how to create more opportunities for young people” to which Lucas replied by not saddling students with thousands of pounds of debt and that the housing and education crisis needs to be addressed by doing policies differently. Polanski added that recent Green convert Lloyd Russell-Moyle had taken him to Brighton Table Tennis Club and what a great example of community this was.
There was a bit of a bun fight to give the last question with lots of shouting and pointing but it fell to a BHASVIC student and Green Party society member who asked “How can under 18s get more involved in Green politics?”
Lucas said her son had gone to BHASVIC and for young people to begin with local passions, such as helping with beach cleans. Polanski gave thanks to everyone, whatever age, for doing what they can to make things better. He continued, “If you want to see the Labour manifesto in 5 or 10 years time, look at the Green manifesto now” and stated that the number of Young Greens has increased from 11,000 to 43,000. He finished by saying “we must build on the work already done and continue it”. He thanked Caroline Lucas and they exited to another standing ovation and cheers from an animated crowd, on what was an informative and entertaining evening in the company of two passionate campaigners.
Bold Politics Live with Zack Polanski and Caroline Lucas
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Monday 23rd February 2026
Photos by Fran Moore
