Ramsay urges Green party democracy reforms amid warning over hard left influence

Former Green party leader Adrian Ramsay has called for changes to the party’s internal democracy, warning that small groups on the hard left could gain disproportionate influence over its direction. His intervention follows a dispute over a conference motion declaring that “Zionism is racism”, which he wants the party to disavow before its rules normally permit a review.

Speaking to the BBC, Ramsay said the Greens faced a choice over their political approach. He welcomed the party’s expanding membership but argued that a small number of newcomers brought divisive organising methods and hardline positions. Some, he suggested, would be better suited to the Socialist Workers party, George Galloway’s party or Jeremy Corbyn’s Your Party. He said certain recruits had arrived after other leftwing movements had failed.

Ramsay argued that the leadership needed to reaffirm the Greens’ environmental purpose and emphasis on building consensus. In his view, members seeking to redirect the party were bringing a political culture at odds with those traditions. He said weaknesses in the way policy was decided allowed relatively small groups to exercise influence beyond their numbers.

The Waveney Valley MP said just 0.4% of members had voted for the Zionism motion, a proportion he did not consider representative of the wider party or the members he spoke to. He proposed a membership ballot or survey and called for changes that would give members beyond those attending annual conference a stronger voice in policy decisions. He also challenged the rule preventing a policy review until two years had passed.

Despite his criticism, Ramsay said he was neither seeking Zack Polanski’s resignation as leader nor planning to leave the Greens himself. He said he had told Polanski directly that he should have attended the debate and vote and clearly stated his position, despite campaigning in a byelection in Holborn and St Pancras.

Greens Organise, the grassroots group that supported Polanski’s leadership bid, rejected Ramsay’s intervention. A spokesperson said he had presented his vision for the party a year earlier and lost, citing an 84% landslide. The group said more than 150,000 members had joined under Polanski and helped deliver unprecedented electoral success. It urged representatives to concentrate on radical responses to the crises facing the country.

Asked whether he considered Zionism racist, Ramsay said he did not. He described the situation in Gaza as appalling but argued that the conference motion conflicted with the Greens’ 2024 manifesto. He said the party supported equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis and had consistently backed self-determination for all people.

Ramsay told the BBC’s Newscast podcast that renewed attention to climate, nature and the cost of living crisis could bring members together while preserving the party’s broader appeal. He urged the Greens to find a way to amend or rescind the disputed motion sooner than the two-year timetable Polanski had discussed.