Zack Polanski (born 1982) is the deputy leader of the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

, having served in the role since 7 September 2022. He has been a Londonwide member of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

(AM) for the party since May 2021. Polanski is also the national spokesperson for the Green Party for Democracy & Citizen Engagement.

Early life

Polanski was born David Paulden, but aged 18 decided to take back his family's original Jewish surname, which had been changed to Paulden in the early 20th century to evade antisemitism after they arrived in the UK from eastern Europe. Polanski has said it was important for him to find pride, not shame, in his identity. Polanski grew up in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

to a Jewish family and attended

Stockport Grammar School Stockport Grammar School is a co-educational independent day school in Stockport, England. Founded in 1487 by former Lord Mayor of London Sir Edmund Shaa, it is the second oldest in the North of England, after Lancaster Royal Grammar School, ...

(on a financial scholarship) before leaving to go to a comprehensive college He studied at

Aberystwyth University , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

before attending drama school in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in the United States. He moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

upon graduation. He is gay.

Career

Politics

Polanski was active in the Liberal Democrats. He stood in the Barnet and Camden constituency and was fifth on the London-wide list for the party in the

2016 London Assembly election The 2016 London Assembly election was an election held on 5 May 2016 to elect the members of the London Assembly. It took place on the same day as the London mayoral election and the United Kingdom local elections. Four parties had AMs in the ...

. He then left the party and joined the Greens in 2017 after failing to be shortlisted as a parliamentary candidate in Richmond Park. He stood as the Green candidate in the Cities of London and Westminster parliamentary constituency at the 2019 general election and came in fourth. Prior to his election to the

, he became treasurer of the Jewish Greens. On 6 May 2021, Polanski was elected a Member of the London Assembly, having been third on the Green Party's London-wide list. He also stood in the West Central constituency, where he came third, and for a Westminster Council by-election, where he came fourth, on the same day. In the new Assembly, Polanski was elected to be the chair of the Environment committee and to be on the committees for Fire, Resilience and Emergency Planning and the Economy Committee. In December 2021, Polanski proposed a successful motion in the

backing the

Climate and Ecological Emergency bill The Climate and Ecology Bill, formerly promoted under the name Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill, is a private member's bill before the Parliament of the United Kingdom aimed at tackling the climate crisis and environmental disaster. Firs ...

. It was a cross party motion with

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

support. On 6 June 2022, Polanski announced his candidacy in the

2022 Green Party of England and Wales deputy leadership election The 2022 Green Party of England and Wales Party deputy leadership election was held between 1 July and 7 September 2022 to determine the next deputy leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. Voting took place from 1 to 30 August 2022. On ...

. On 7 September 2022, he was elected Deputy Leader, succeeding

Amelia Womack Amelia Helen Womack (born 12 January 1985) is a British Green Party of England and Wales politician. She served as the party's Deputy Leader from 2014 to 2022. She is a co-chair of the People's Assembly Against Austerity and co-founded Another ...

Other ventures

Prior to being a politician, Polanski worked with the theatre company DifferencEngine as an immersive theatre actor, including appearances in The Hollow Hotel, The People's Revolt (in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...

) and in the ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'' Immersive Theatre experience. Polanski has also worked as a hypnotherapist. In 2013, he took a newspaper reporter for '' The Sun'' through a

hypnotherapy Hypnotherapy is a type of mind–body intervention in which hypnosis is used to create a state of focused attention and increased suggestibility in the treatment of a medical or psychological disorder or concern. Popularized by 17th and 18th cen ...

session to increase her breast size at his Harley Street hypnotherapy clinic. He subsequently apologised for having done this, describing his own actions as misogynistic. He taught at the

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson w ...

and the

National Centre for Circus Arts The National Centre for Circus Arts (formerly the Circus Space) is a professional circus school in the Hoxton area of Shoreditch in London that offers one of the UK's only university degree programmes in circus. It is a leading centre for contemp ...

. Polanski also sang for the London International Gospel Choir.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polanski, Zack 1982 births Living people Alumni of Aberystwyth University English Jews Green Party Members of the London Assembly Jewish British politicians English LGBT politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) politicians People educated at Stockport Grammar School People from Salford Politicians from London