Zack Polanski, the newly elected Green Party leader, has apologised once more after resurfacing claims that he once offered hypnosis sessions to help women increase their breast size.
The controversy dates back more than a decade, when Mr Polanski was working as a hypnotherapist. At the time, he suggested he could help an undercover reporter from The Sun enhance her breast size and boost her body confidence.
Apology Repeated Post Leadership Win
Confronted with the allegations after securing a landslide victory as the party’s first sole leader, Mr Polanski told BBC Breakfast: “Well, it’s never for a politician to say ‘trust me’.
But what I would say is, I apologise, well, I apologised for that 12 years ago, and one of my favourite politicians, Tony Benn, often said, ‘I don’t care where you came from, I care where you’re going’.”
He stressed that trust is built through actions, not promises, reiterating his regret for comments made in 2013.
Labour Resurfaces Old Claims
The Labour Party quickly seized on the story, resurfacing an extract from the original newspaper piece on its official press account.
The post read: “Meet Zack Polanski. This is the person who the Greens just elected as their new leader.”
The shared article quoted Mr Polanski as saying: “This is an extremely new approach, but I can see it becoming popular very quickly, because it’s so safe and a lot cheaper than a boob job.”
Several Labour MPs echoed the criticism. Kettering MP Rosie Wrighting wrote: “So this is who the Greens think should lead their party? Says it all.” Stratford and Bow MP Uma Kumaran simply added: “Grim.”
Polanski Struck Back
Responding to Labour’s attacks, Mr Polanski said the party was focusing on the wrong priorities: “The Labour government, when they could have been talking about the inequality act, or the homeless people on the streets, or the fact that we’ve just spent £15bn in nuclear weapons.
We could have that discussion, but no, the Labour Party yesterday put out a press release about a silly article way before I was a politician from over a decade ago that I’ve already apologised for.”
He accused Labour of being “worried” by the Greens’ growing momentum.
Green Leadership Victory
Polanski’s leadership win was decisive. He secured 20,411 votes from party members, while his rivals Ellie Chowns and Adrian Ramsay gained just 3,705. His total marked the largest ever vote count in a Green Party leadership contest.
Celebrating the victory, he promised “bold action and bold leadership,” pledging to take the fight directly to Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
In his victory speech, he declared: “We will nationalise the water companies. We will hold this Labour government to account.
Because when we look at Keir Starmer and what this government have been doing, whether it’s the two-child benefit cap, the disability cuts, the genocide in Gaza, my message to Labour is very clear: we are not here to be disappointed by you, we are not here to be concerned by you, we’re here to replace you.”
Polanski’s past remarks may have handed Labour fresh ammunition, but his overwhelming leadership win highlights strong support within the Green Party. Whether this old controversy will dent his push to challenge Labour’s dominance remains to be seen.
