Former Green Leader Suggests He Could Quit Party Over ‘Zionism Is Racism’ Motion

Adrian Ramsay, the Green MP for Waveney Valley, said he is “not ruling anything in or out” over his future within the party.

His comments come amid the ongoing row over the decision at the party’s annual conference in Brighton to pass the “Zionism is racism” motion.

The move led to accusation that the Greens are now “a racist party” and has been widely condemned by Jewish groups.

Ramsay, who voted against the motion, told Radio 5 Live it was a “very upsetting time” for the Greens, and that the “mess” needed to be sorted out quickly.

He said he is “happy sitting and standing on the manifesto on which I was elected” at the 2024 general election, but insisted the controversy around the motion needs to be addressed as a “matter of urgency.”

Ramsay also avoided saying he had confidence in Zack Polanski after the party leader faced a backlash for skipping the vote to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

Presenter Matt Chorley put it to Ramsay: “You’re quite clearly not ruling out the possibility that if in your words this mess can’t be sorted out quickly, that you could resign from the Green Party.”

“I’m not ruling anything in or out at this stage, Matt,” Ramsay replied. “I’m focusing on how we try and address the situation that we find ourselves in.”

He added: “Clearly if I was in Zack’s position I would have made a different decision around showing leadership to the new members that have come into the party around the conference vote, but I’ve deliberately not focused my comments on this issue on on Zack or in any other individual.”

Party members voted in favour of the Greens adopting a new party policy which criticises the belief that Jewish people should have their own state at their autumn conference on Sunday.

The official policy also rips apart the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, instead proposing just a single Palestinian state where Jews can co-exist with Palestinians.

The motion has been described as “anti-semitic” by Jewish groups and the umbrella group, the European Green Party, has “unequivocally” distanced itself from the vote.

Ramsay, who was the party’s co-leader along with fellow MP Carla Denyer until last year, was beaten by Polanski in a leadership contest last year.

He said: “I think it’s at best a really unhelpful distraction from the great work that Green MPs have been doing in parliament as one of the strongest voices standing up for the people of Gaza.”

Ramsay added: “My concern with this motion amongst other things was that it would distract us from that crucial message, as well as it just being wrong in principle.”

Meanwhile, a former Green Party deputy leader has been suspended from the party after speaking out against the Zionism motion.

Shahrar Ali claimed the party was punishing him after he previously warned it would damage the Greens’ reputation.

Ali said: “In a week in which the Party has been engulfed by an antisemitic crisis of epic proportions, it seems I should rather have been commended for accurately predicting the electoral cost of passing that motion.

“Instead the party would shoot the messenger at a time when the party needs all the critical friends it can get to course correct.”