The Green Party of England and Wales has given back a donation from its own leader, Zack Polanski, because he is not allowed to give it under UK election law, BBC News reported on 26 June 2026.

British political parties can only accept donations from certain types of donors. For ordinary people, there is one key rule: you must be registered to vote on the UK electoral register. Polanski does not appear on that register, so the party had to decline his money and report the donation to the Electoral Commission, as the law requires them to do.

The Independent reported that this is the first time any major British party has had to turn down a donation from its own leader. The Telegraph said the same — as far as anyone knows, nothing like this has happened before among the main parties.

These donation rules are well-known among party officials. Any party treasurer or compliance officer would be expected to understand them. So it is unusual that a party leader would fall outside these rules in the first place. The Green Party's own systems should have caught and corrected this before any donation changed hands.

The timing is awkward for Polanski, who became Green co-leader in 2024 and then sole leader afterwards. The Greens have built their public image on clean politics and changing how institutions work. A mistake involving the leader's own money — even though the party followed the correct steps to fix it — looks bad and hands ammunition to their critics. Polanski and the party will need to explain clearly why his electoral register status was not checked before the donation arrived.

The actual process of returning the money is straightforward. Any donation that breaks the rules must go back within 30 days, and the party must tell the Electoral Commission. Failing to do this can mean fines or, in serious cases, criminal charges. The Greens appear to have followed this procedure correctly. The question that remains is simpler but more uncomfortable: why did they take the donation in the first place?