Former Green leader Ramsay: party must avoid hard-left takeover
Adrian Ramsay, a former co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, says the party must fix its internal democracy to avoid a hard-left takeover. He criticises a conference motion declaring "Zionism is racism" and wants it overturned sooner than the two years current rules allow.
Adrian Ramsay, a former leader of the Green Party and MP for Waveney Valley, has said the party must repair its internal democracy to avoid being taken over by the hard left. He made the remarks to the BBC while criticising how the party has handled a row over a "Zionism is racism" motion passed at its conference.
Ramsay described the party as being at a "crossroads". In his view, small groups on the hard left move between parties to try to influence how they are run, bringing a divisive style of politics. He said some new members joined the Greens after other leftwing projects faltered, such as George Galloway's party and Jeremy Corbyn's Your Party. Some of them, he suggested, might be more at home in the Socialist Workers party (SWP) or in those groups.
Call for rule changes
Ramsay argued that flaws in internal democracy let small groups wield outsized influence. Only 0.4% of members voted for the motion, he said, and that does not reflect the membership as a whole. He proposed a ballot or survey of all members. He also wants the party to disavow the motion sooner than the two-year cycle its rules permit, and to give the wider membership more control over policy rather than the small numbers who attend the annual conference.
Ramsay said he does not consider Zionism racist and that the motion contradicts the party's 2024 manifesto. He called the situation in Gaza "appalling". He also said he had told party leader Zack Polanski that he should have attended the debate and vote, even though Polanski was fighting a byelection in Holborn and St Pancras. Ramsay is not calling on Polanski to step down and does not intend to leave the party himself.
Response from Polanski's supporters
A spokesperson for Greens Organise, the grassroots group that backed Polanski's leadership, said Ramsay made his case for the party's future a year ago and lost by a landslide 84%. The spokesperson said more than 150,000 members have joined under Polanski's leadership.
Ramsay said the party should refocus on climate, nature and the cost of living crisis, which he believes would unite its members.
