The Telegraph, on UK Politics, 1 November 2026

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Labour set to end almost half of Green council coalitions over Zionism row

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Published 01 November 2026 7:58pm GMT

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Pieter Snepvangers Political Reporter Show biography !Pieter Snepvangers

Pieter reports from Westminster, after previously working on the Telegraph's Money desk. His investigation into how China flooded Britain with counterfeit stamps saw him named as one of MHP's 30 young journalists to watch in 2024

Published 01 November 2026 7:58pm GMT

Labour is set to end almost half of its power-sharing agreements with Green councils after they refused to condemn its “Zionism is racism” policy, The Telegraph understands.

On Monday, the party is expected to push about half a dozen councils into no overall control or attempt to form coalitions with other parties after Andy Burnham said Labour would have “nothing to do” with the “anti-Semitic” policy.

Labour councillors at 15 local authorities were instructed to write to their Green colleagues on Oct 15, seeking a “clear and unambiguous” rejection of the policy and demanding that they call on Zack Polanski, the party leader, to “reconsider” it.

The policy supports the “right of Palestinian resistance” and calls for the state of Israel to be replaced by a “single democratic Palestinian state in all historic Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital”.

!Andy Burnham said Labour would have 'nothing to do' with the 'anti-Semitic' policy

Andy Burnham said Labour would have ‘nothing to do’ with the ‘anti-Semitic’ policy Credit: Getty Images/Carlos Jasso

Last week, The Telegraph revealed at least eight councils where Labour has a power-sharing deal with the Greens – either in a formal coalition or a “confidence and supply” arrangement – had failed to meet Mr Burnham’s request.

On Friday, Lewes district council in East Sussex, which the Greens and Labour have controlled together since 2023, became the first authority to announce that its partnership had broken down.

Zoe Nicholson, the Green leader of the council, said the alliance had ended as a result of “unnecessary pressures from outside of the council”.

Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture

The Telegraph never says that Labour's own leader in Lewes, Chris Collier, resigned from Labour to sit as an independent after Labour sent its letter to the Greens. Without this, a reader believes the Lewes collapse was simply Greens defying Labour, when Labour's local leader himself walked away from the party over the ultimatum.

How we know

The local Green group issued a short statement offering its “wholehearted support for the rights of Jewish and Palestinian people equally” .

Other coalitions expected to fall include Sheffield city council, where Labour’s ultimatum was accused of being “anti-Semitic” because it conflated Zionism with Judaism, and Warwick district council, which accused Mr Burnham’s party of trying to “undermine Green Party democracy”.

!Zack Polanski at the Green Party conference in Brighton

Zack Polanski at the Green Party conference in Brighton Credit: Getty Images/Gary Roberts

On Monday, the Green deputy leader of Havant borough council claimed it would be “wrong” for her party to disavow the “Zionism is racism” motion.

Challenged on whether she would denounce the motion, Cllr Netty Shepherd told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It would be wrong for us to do so.”

She continued: “I didn’t feel qualified to vote on it. It’s a very complex issue. I am a local government councillor... foreign policy is nothing to do with my remit.”

Ms Shepherd said she had only received a single email from a resident since the motion was passed by the national party.

She continued: “We responded to that one individual so I don’t think there’s an issue on the doorstep.

“I have been talking to lots of residents, we have a by-election running at the moment and no-one has mentioned Gaza, no-one.”

In October, Green Party members voted to define Zionism as a form of racism at the party’s autumn conference in Brighton.

Members also overwhelmingly rejected an amendment that sought to ensure the policy would not be used to “pressure, proscribe or discipline” Jewish members who attended synagogues that defined themselves as Zionist.

The policy was of the party’s membership, with “entryism”.

On Saturday, Adrian Ramsay, the MP for Waveney Valley and former co-leader, said the party was at a “crossroads” and needed to focus on its “core values”.

He told BBC’s Newscast: “One option is to sort of dig in more down this approach, not only in relation to this motion, but I think that there’s a risk it brings with it – a quite divisive, a quite internally focused approach to politics.”

!Adrian Ramsay urged the Green Party to 'focus back' on the party's core values

Adrian Ramsay urged the Green Party to ‘focus back’ on the party’s core values Credit: Getty Images/Alishia Abodunde

Mr Ramsay said this is “perhaps seen from small groups of people on the hard Left of politics who go around different parties trying to influence how those parties are run”.

He added: “What I want to see is the party really focus back on our core aims as a party and our core values.”

Mr Ramsay call has been echoed by Caroline Lucas, the party’s first MP, who called the Zionism is Racism policy “divisive” and has urged the party to place a greater emphasis on the environment in recent months.

But in an apparent knock-down of Mr Ramsay’s comments, Mr Polanski responded to a video of his interview on X and wrote: “There’s no environmental justice without social, racial and economic justice.”

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Labour has finally turned on the Greens. Why did it take so long?

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The latest YouGov poll found the Green leader had a net favourability rating of -37, his lowest ever score recorded by the pollster. Last week, an internal memo showed the party has shed almost 18,000 members since May.

But Mr Polanski has remained relaxed about the prospect of ending power-sharing agreements on councils. In an interview with the BBC last month, he refused four times to answer how Green councils should respond to the ultimatum. Instead, he accused the Prime Minister of being “more worried about defending genocide” than residents’ bin collections.

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Read the original article on telegraph.co.uk (opens in a new tab)
What we found (5)

The Telegraph reports that Labour is expected to end several council power-sharing deals with the Greens over the party's 'Zionism is racism' motion. It ties a membership loss counted from May to a vote held in October, and shrinks the conference vote to a share of total membership without giving the result. It also tells readers the Lewes Greens failed to answer Labour's demands while leaving out that they had told Labour they did not agree with the motion.

  1. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Serious

    “but failed to address Labour’s two demands”

    Why this matters
    The words 'failed to address Labour’s two demands' tell the reader that the Lewes Greens did not distance themselves from the motion.
    The impression it gives
    A reader believes the Lewes Greens refused to reject the national motion and that this is why the partnership ended.
    The context
    The Observer reported that the Lewes Green group had written to Labour saying it did not agree with the national motion. It also reported that the partnership ended by mutual agreement. The Telegraph gives neither fact.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    The local Green group had written to Labour saying it did not agree with the national motion, and its public statement offered 'wholehearted support for the rights of Jewish and Palestinian people equally'; the council leader said the partnership ended by mutual agreement.

  2. Uses figures that mislead

    Minor

    “It appears to also be cutting through with members.”

    Why this matters
    This sentence links the falling poll rating and the membership figure that follows to the row. It does this in the outlet's own voice, with only 'appears' as a hedge.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the membership loss in the next sentence as evidence of a backlash against the motion.
    The context
    The membership figure runs from May. The vote came in October, so the article offers no figure showing members left because of the motion.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“voted to define Zionism as a form of racism at the party’s autumn conference”
    • On the recordOn 4 October 2026 Green Party members voted 1,022 to 813 for a motion stating that Zionism is racism.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)

    Show it in the article

  3. Uses figures that mislead

    Minor

    “passed by fewer than 1 per cent”

    Why this matters
    The words 'fewer than 1 per cent' measure a conference vote against the party's whole membership, and they sit next to a warning of 'entryism'.
    The impression it gives
    A reader believes a tiny faction forced the policy through against the party.
    The context
    The motion was carried 1,022 to 813 by the members who voted, a clear majority of those voting. The article never gives the vote count. Any conference vote measured against total membership would look this small.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

  4. One side gets the space

    Minor

    “senior Greens warning the party has become a victim of”

    Why this matters
    This line opens a run of Green voices against the motion. Unnamed 'senior Greens', then Adrian Ramsay and Caroline Lucas, each get space.
    The impression it gives
    A reader comes away believing the motion has almost no defenders inside the party.
    The context
    The only supporter of the motion quoted is Zack Polanski, in a single line. No one is quoted explaining what the motion argues or why members backed it. No Palestinian voice appears.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“said the party was at a “crossroads” and needed”
    • On the recordA review of 15 reports on the Green Party's Zionism vote found opponents of the motion were given 5,632 words against 620 for supporters, 13 of the 15 quoted no Palestinian, and none of 22 headlines named Palestinians, Gaza or genocide.newscord.org (opens in a new tab)

    Show it in the article

  5. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Minor

    What is missing

    The Telegraph never says that Labour's own leader in Lewes, Chris Collier, resigned from Labour to sit as an independent after Labour sent its letter to the Greens. Without this, a reader believes the Lewes collapse was simply Greens defying Labour, when Labour's local leader himself walked away from the party over the ultimatum.

    How we know

    Show where it belongs

How other outlets reported it

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