The Telegraph, on UK Politics, 2 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.

Left out here: Leaves out what changes the picture

The article says the Lewes partnership "had broken down" and presents it as the first casualty of Labour's ultimatum. It leaves out that the council leader said it ended by mutual agreement, and that the Labour leader in Lewes, Chris Collier, had resigned from Labour to sit as an independent after Labour sent its letter. Without this a reader thinks Lewes shows Labour enforcing its demand on defiant Greens.

How we know

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

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 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.

, with senior Greens warning the party has become a victim of “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 , 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 Labour's plan to end power-sharing deals with Green councils over the party's Zionism motion. It shrinks the motion's support with a misleading base, and it pins a membership loss that began in May on a vote held in October. It also tells readers the Lewes Greens failed to answer Labour's demands while leaving out that they wrote to say they did not agree with the motion and that the split was mutual.

  1. Uses figures that mislead

    Serious

    “The policy was passed by fewer than 1 per cent of the party's membership”

    Why this matters
    The words "fewer than 1 per cent of the party's membership" measure a conference vote against the whole membership, not against the members who voted.
    The impression it gives
    A reader thinks a tiny fringe forced the motion through against the will of the party, which the next clause on "entryism" reinforces.
    The context
    Green Party members voted 1,022 to 813 for the motion, a majority of those who voted. The article never gives the vote count. Almost any conference motion would look like a tiny share of a whole membership on this base.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

    Written straight

    Green Party members at the autumn conference voted 1,022 to 813 for the motion. Some senior Greens say the party has been the target of entryism.

  2. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Serious

    “but failed to address Labour's two demands”

    Why this matters
    The Telegraph says the Lewes Green group "failed to address" Labour's demands and reports only a short statement on Jewish and Palestinian rights.
    The impression it gives
    A reader thinks the Lewes Greens refused to distance themselves from the motion, and that this is why the first coalition fell.
    The context
    The Observer reported the same day that the Lewes Green group had written to Labour saying it did not agree with the national party's Zionism motion.

    How we know

    Show it in the article

  3. Uses figures that mislead

    Minor

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

    Why this matters
    In its own voice The Telegraph says the row "appears" to be "cutting through with members", then offers as proof a fall in membership counted from May.
    The impression it gives
    A reader thinks almost 18,000 members left because of the Zionism motion.
    The context
    The membership figure runs from May, and the article itself says the vote took place in October. Most of the period the figure covers comes before the motion existed, and the article gives no breakdown of when members left.

    How we know

    • Elsewhere in the article“the party has shed almost 18,000 members since May”
    • Elsewhere in the article“In October, Green Party members voted to define Zionism as a form of racism”

    Show it in the article

  4. Uses a loaded word

    Minor

    “in an apparent knock-down of Mr Ramsay's comments”

    Why this matters
    In its own voice The Telegraph calls Polanski's post a "knock-down" of Ramsay.
    The impression it gives
    A reader thinks the Green leader publicly slapped down his own MP.
    The context
    The post quoted says only that there is no environmental justice without social, racial and economic justice. It names no one and rebuts nothing Ramsay said.

    Show it in the article

    “claimed it would be “wrong” for her party to disavow”

    Why this matters
    The word "claimed" treats a councillor's stated view as a doubtful assertion of fact.
    The impression it gives
    A reader thinks Shepherd's position is suspect.
    The context
    Shepherd gave an opinion on what her group should do. Neutral reporting would say she said it.

    Show it in the article

  5. Leaves out what changes the picture

    Minor

    What is missing

    The article says the Lewes partnership "had broken down" and presents it as the first casualty of Labour's ultimatum. It leaves out that the council leader said it ended by mutual agreement, and that the Labour leader in Lewes, Chris Collier, had resigned from Labour to sit as an independent after Labour sent its letter. Without this a reader thinks Lewes shows Labour enforcing its demand on defiant Greens.

    How we know

    Show where it belongs

How other outlets reported it

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