Labour Shuts Door on Greens After Zionism-is-Racism Vote

Senior Labour figures have said it is very unlikely Labour will cooperate with the Greens in future after the Green Party of England and Wales voted to treat Zionism as racism.

The warning, reported on Oct. 6, 2026, closes a door that Green leader Zack Polanski had left open earlier this year. Polanski had said the Greens could consider an electoral pact with Labour under Andy Burnham or Angela Rayner, while ruling one out under Keir Starmer. A Labour minister now says they could not foresee how the two parties could work together. A government official has gone further, saying Labour should formally rule out a future coalition or other arrangement. Labour chair Bridget Phillipson called the Greens' decision shameful The Guardian.

The policy was adopted at the Greens' conference in Brighton on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. Members voted by 1,022 to 813 to make it binding The Guardian. That margin matters. It was not a fringe motion passed on a thin floor. It was contested, close, and decisive.

The text declares Zionism necessarily racist because it "privileges one ethnic group on the basis of the subjugation of others." It calls for a single Palestinian state in place of Israel. Implementation is assigned to the party's anti-racism policy working group.

Polanski missed the vote. He was campaigning in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, where he is seeking to take Starmer's former seat from Labour. Voting is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.

The internal dissent was immediate. Four of the party's five MPs opposed the motion. Adrian Ramsay and Ellie Chowns said they were "deeply saddened" by its passage. Siân Berry and Carla Denyer said they would support any Jewish members who believed they were being targeted as a result of the policy. An amendment saying the motion should not be used to "pressure, proscribe or discipline members based on affiliation with Jewish community institutions" was voted down. Some members are now consulting lawyers over whether the policy could be challenged for breaching equalities legislation.

Opposition outside the party was swift. The vote drew criticism from British Jews and from the Israeli government Reuters. Israel's foreign ministry said the resolution "constitutes a clear antisemitic text" under the IHRA definition because it denies the Jewish people's right to self-determination. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar decided to bar Polanski from entering Israel. European Green counterparts have distanced themselves, leaving the England and Wales party facing international ostracism.

Inside the party, the Jewish Greens had warned of this outcome. In February 2026, Jewish Greens officers urged members to vote against the motion titled 'Zionism is Racism,' which had been put to the party's Spring 2026 conference. On Oct. 5, the party published Polanski's formal reaction to the motion's passage.

The dispute is already testing subnational cooperation. After the May 2026 local elections, the Liberal Democrats and Greens govern together in Southwark, with the Greens as senior partner. Following the Zionism motion, the joint administration released a statement against antisemitism.

The broader context here is about coalition logic and credibility. For experts who track progressive electoral coordination, the question was never only Gaza or Israel policy. It was whether Labour and the Greens could divide effort, stand down candidates, or share power in hung councils or a hung parliament. Labour's response removes that assumption for now. It also raises costs for the Liberal Democrats in places like Southwark, where continued partnership will invite scrutiny.

Looking at what this means for the Greens, the tension is structural. A membership-driven conference can set binding policy over the objections of almost the entire parliamentary group. That is a familiar Green governance model. It protects internal democracy. It also limits a leader's ability to reassure would-be partners. Polanski campaigned as a bridge to disaffected Labour voters. He now leads a party whose official platform Labour describes as disqualifying.

The next test is electoral, not procedural. Holborn and St Pancras votes on Oct. 8. Legal advice, the working group's implementation guidance, and the fate of joint administrations will follow.