<p>Crowds of young people chant his name but the Green leader is "nervous", says Ailbhe Rea.</p><br><p>--</p><br><p>A year ago, Zack Polanksi was relatively unknown. Now, he's leading an "eco-populist" movement that has revitalised the Green Party and looks likely to propel a left-wing surge in the May local elections.</p><br><p>Ailbhe Rea profiled the Green leader for the New Statesman, meeting him shortly after he'd been addressing young activists. She found a "sweet, slightly nervous" man who admits he still has much to learn about running a political party. </p><br><p>Here Ailbhe speaks to Anoosh Chakelian about Zack Polanski's political position, his unusual background, and the lessons he might learn from Jeremy Corbyn.</p><br><p>LISTEN NEXT: </p><p><a href="https://pod.fo/e/40ac96" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Attacks on Jews are an indictment of Keir Starmer's Britain</a></p><br><p>READ: </p><p><a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/the-ns-profile/2026/04/who-is-the-real-zack-polanski" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Zack Polanski is still learning</a></p><br><p><strong>LISTEN AD-FREE:</strong></p><p>📱<a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2022/06/newapp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Download the New Statesman app</a></p><br><p><strong>MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:</strong></p><p>❓ <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/podcasts/2022/10/you-ask-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ask a question</a> – we answer them every Friday</p><p>⏰ <a href="https://morningcall.substack.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Get our daily politics newsletter</a> every morning</p><p>✍️ <a href="http://saturdayread.substack.com/subscribe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Enjoy the best of our writing</a> via email every Saturday</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>