The former Green party leader Adrian Ramsay has said the party needs to repair its internal democracy so that small hard-left groupings cannot steer its direction, The Guardian reports. In comments to the BBC, Ramsay said a “small number” of newer members use divisive methods to push the party’s agenda, and that some of them would be more comfortable in the Socialist Workers party, George Galloway’s party or Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party.
His intervention follows a dispute over a “Zionism is racism” motion passed at the party’s conference. Ramsay has criticised how that row has been handled and argues the leadership must restate the Greens’ core values and ways of working.
Why it matters
The Greens have grown quickly in membership and enjoyed what the party describes as unprecedented electoral success, and the argument Ramsay is making goes to how that larger membership is represented. He contends that conference votes involving a tiny share of members can end up speaking for a far bigger party, and that the rules should give the wider membership more say over policy. The outcome will shape both the party’s public positions and how it manages the tensions that come with rapid growth.
A crossroads for the party
Ramsay told the BBC that the Greens have reached what he called a real crossroads. One path, he said, is to dig in, but he warned that this carries the risk of a divisive style of politics. He described that approach as characteristic of small groups on the hard left that move between parties in an attempt to influence how those parties operate.
He said some people joined the Greens after other left-wing movements faltered, including Galloway’s party and Corbyn’s Your Party, and that their organising roots lie on the hard left. According to Ramsay, a small number of these members not only favour hardline positions on particular issues but also bring a different culture to political work.
He said such members are trying to alter the party’s direction. In his view, the leadership needs to reassert the Greens’ core values and methods, which he described as centred on building consensus rather than on highly factional and tribal politics, and on the environment.
The conference motion and the membership question
Ramsay pointed to the “Zionism is racism” motion as evidence that the party’s internal democracy has flaws that let small groups wield disproportionate influence. He said only 0.4% of members voted for the motion, arguing that this does not reflect the membership as a whole or the members he speaks with. He called for a ballot or survey of the broader membership.
He said it is critical that the party disavows the motion sooner than the two-year cycle allowed under its rules, and that the rules should be changed so the wider membership, rather than the relatively small number who attend the annual conference, has more control over policy. He told the BBC the party needs a way to change or rescind the motion before the two years that leader Zack Polanski has discussed, and to alter the provision that prevents a policy being reviewed until that period has passed.
Ramsay, the MP for Waveney Valley, said he welcomed the growth in Green membership and made clear he is not calling on Polanski to resign over the handling of the row. He also said he has no intention of leaving the party himself, and that what he wants is for the issue to be addressed clearly.
Asked whether he considers Zionism racist, Ramsay said no, adding that he had already set out his position on the motion as other Greens have done. He described the situation in Gaza as appalling but said the motion conflicts with the party’s 2024 manifesto. He said the Greens support equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis and have consistently backed self-determination for all peoples.
Ramsay also said he had told Polanski directly that he should have been present for the debate and vote, even though Polanski was contesting a byelection in Holborn and St Pancras at the time. In Ramsay’s view, the leader should have attended and stated his position plainly.
Pushback from Greens Organise
Greens Organise, the grassroots group that backed Polanski’s leadership, rejected Ramsay’s framing. A spokesperson said Ramsay set out his case for the party’s future a year ago and lost by a landslide 84%. The group said more than 150,000 members have joined under Polanski’s leadership and have helped deliver unprecedented electoral success. It added that those members deserve representatives who concentrate on campaigning for radical answers to the crises the country faces.
Ramsay said the party also needs to return its focus to its central missions: climate and nature, and the cost of living crisis. He argued that this would bring members together and preserve the party’s broad appeal.
What to watch is whether the Greens move to put the conference motion to a wider membership ballot and whether any rule change on reviewing policy gains traction before the party’s next conference cycle.
