Zack Polanski calls for emergency rent controls in Green Party speech

Zack Polanski used his first leader’s address at the Green Party conference to demand an immediate three-year emergency brake on private rents, while urging voters to back his party to push the administration further to the left on housing, wealth taxation, and foreign policy. Speaking in Brighton on Friday, 2 October 2026, the Green leader framed his party as a crucial external engine capable of steering the government's direction between general elections, according to coverage by The Standard and Morning Star | The People’s Daily.

Under the proposed housing policy detailed at the conference, rent rises would face a triple lock-style guarantee, preventing increases above Consumer Prices Index inflation, wage growth, or two per cent—whichever is lower. Mr Polanski argued that private landlords have hiked prices far beyond wages, forcing tenants to cut back on essentials while taxpayers foot escalating housing benefit bills that subsidise extortionate rents. Clara Collingwood, director of the Renters’ Reform Coalition, noted that rent caps remain broadly popular and could generate savings for public coffers that might otherwise fund council house building, as reported by Morning Star | The People’s Daily.

Media additions

The conference address also touched heavily on foreign affairs and civil liberties, with Mr Polanski drawing some of his loudest cheers when calling for the de-proscription of Palestine Action. Labour proscribed the group as a terrorist organisation last year following factory disruptions, leading to subsequent arrests during protests. Mr Polanski stated, according to The Jewish Chronicle:

"Greens, we stand with one voice now as we say: Drop the charges. End the Genocide. Deproscribe Palestine Action."

Zack Polanski, Green Party Leader, via The Jewish Chronicle

He further criticised the authorities' approach to demonstrators, describing the sight of pensioners being handcuffed for holding cardboard signs as a stain on the nation's reputation. The foreign policy stance also highlighted successes by Green representatives, with Mr Polanski pointing to work by MP Ellie Chowns regarding trade with illegal settlements, alongside ongoing resistance to new fossil fuel extraction in the North Sea following summer heatwaves and fires.

The political timing of the conference intersects directly with the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras by-election, which was triggered after Sir Keir Starmer left Parliament, as noted by the Daily Mail. Bound by broadcasting regulations, Mr Polanski could not explicitly name the north London constituency during his formal address, but departed Brighton immediately afterward to rejoin local campaigners, according to The Standard. Party officials suggested that the timing of the contest was chosen by the government to disrupt the Green gathering.

What to Watch Next

• The outcome of the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary by-election, which will test the electoral strength of the Greens under Mr Polanski's leadership.
• Continued debate among Green delegates regarding contentious internal motions concerning foreign policy and community definitions.
• Further legislative maneuvers in Parliament regarding tenant protections, housing benefit reform, and protest laws.