Polanski will struggle to end the Greens’ bitter Zionism fight

LONDON — Zack Polanski’s Green Party is still feeling the heat from a controversial policy branding Zionism a form of racism. But the outfit’s intense focus on internal democracy is making it hard to move on. Polanski has sought to challenge Britain’s governing Labour Party from the left since he swept to the top last year.

But he fell short in a recent by-election test, failing to get a seat in the U.K. parliament after a race dominated by internal Green bickering over the party conference motion. The motion has triggered a wave of internal soul-searching — and last week saw the collapse of several local government deals with Labour, which has spent years stamping out any hint of softness on antisemitism.

The leader has since sought to regain the initiative — promising an overhaul of party democracy which aims to give its upper echelons more responsibility in setting the Greens’ strategic direction. But that’s already testing the limits of his role in a Green Party constitution that’s meant to put members in the driving seat.