Conservatives and Labour at Westminster Council unite in support of Zionism

Westminster City councillors are preparing to back a cross-party motion declaring Zionism is not racism in a rebuke to the national Green Party.

Leader of the Green Party Zack Polanski, who is Jewish and describes himself as an anti-Zionist, is a former resident of City of Westminster and has been barred from visiting Israel due to his party’s stance on Zionism.

The motion, which is on the agenda for next week’s Full Council meeting, is to be moved by Conservative cabinet member Hannah Galley and seconded by Labour’s David Boothroyd.

If agreed the leaders of the two parties are to write to local synagogues and the London Jewish Forum “to share this resolution and to offer reassurance to Jewish residents”.

Cllr Paul Swaddle, leader of Westminster City Council, said Conservative members are “united” behind the motion”, adding the city’s Jewish community “should hear one voice from their council”.

The opposition group’s leader, Cllr Ellie Ormsby, said the two parties had worked together on similar issues previously, pointing to a 2018 motion “demonstrating our shared commitment to standing in solidarity with our Jewish community”.

The motion is a direct response to the “Zionism is racism” resolution agreed by the Green Party of England and Wales at its conference last month. Adopted by members with 1,022 votes in favour to 813 against, it has drawn criticism both externally and from within the party.

The Green Party motion states that Zionism is an ethnonationalist political project, and reasserts the party’s commitment to Palestinian liberation, the Palestinian right of return, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS), and a full arms embargo against Israel.

The motion states that Israel is an apartheid state committing genocide and also calls for the establishment of a single democratic state throughout historic Palestine.

Ellie Chowns, one of the Greens’ five MPs, told the BBC it was a “significant and damaging policy”.

A Green Party spokesperson previously said: “This is one motion alongside dozens of others that was discussed at our biggest-ever party conference. Every motion submitted to conference undergoes debate and no single interest group drives policy.”

The decision by Westminster’s Conservative administration and Labour opposition to present a joint motion is rare.

The text, which has been published ahead of Full Council, notes that Zionism is widely understood as “the belief that the Jewish people have the right to national self-determination in their historic homeland”.

It states the local authority believes that Zionism is not racism, and that support for the Jewish people’s right to self-determination is not racist.

The motion adds that criticism of the policies and actions of the Israeli Government is legitimate and not antisemitic, but that declaring Zionism to be racism “goes far beyond such criticism”.

“The Green Party’s position is incompatible with the council’s duty to foster good relations between communities and with the Members’ Code of Conduct,” it continues. “Antisemitism must be challenged consistently, whichever political party or individual it comes from.”

Four actions are listed if the motion is agreed: that the council affirms Zionism is not racism, it reaffirms its support for Jewish residents in Westminster, and asks the council leader and leader of the Opposition to write to local synagogues and the London Jewish Forum offering reassurance.

The council is also to ask the Head of Paid Service “to seek a review, within six months, of the council’s equality, diversity and community cohesion training and policies, to ensure that they remain consistent with the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] working definition and do not treat Jewish residents’ support for Jewish self-determination as a form of racism”.

Cllr Swaddle said: “Antisemitism has no place in Westminster, and Jewish residents should never be made to feel unwelcome in public life because of who they are. After the hate marches and attacks the Jewish community has faced in our city, they should not have to hear a political party declare that Zionism should be treated like any other form of racism. It brands most British Jews as racists. That demands a clear answer from every part of this council.

“This is a joint motion, drawn up and submitted by the Conservative and Labour groups together. Conservative councillors are united behind it, and I look forward to every member of the council being in the chamber next week and voting for it. Westminster’s Jewish community should hear one voice from their council.”

Cllr Ormsby said: “Westminster Labour has previously worked with Conservative councillors on similar motions. In 2018, the Labour Group seconded a Conservative motion adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, demonstrating our shared commitment to standing in solidarity with our Jewish community and combating antisemitism.

“The Labour Group has voted to support this joint motion, in line with the strong stance taken by the national Labour Party, which has ended power-sharing arrangements across 11 councils where Green councillors have refused to disavow the motion declaring that ‘Zionism is racism’.

“We have also published a statement on our website which sets out our broader position and provides further context alongside the motion.”

The Green Party responded to the end of power-sharing on 11 local councils in England by saying it was disappointed that the Labour leadership had told local parties to end co-operation with them in local government.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said last month: “Antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli state are, and must always be, completely distinct — blurring the line between the two is not only wrong but antisemitic, and makes Jewish people less safe. It’s our role as a movement for justice to protect both the rights of Palestinians and our Jewish communities here in the UK. As leader I will not accept any exclusion, or refusal to engage with anyone, because of the religious or communal body they are part of.

“When I was elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, I was so proud to stand as a Jewish party leader, side by side with my deputy leaders Mothin and Rachel. Together, we exemplify everything this party stands for: we come from different backgrounds, faiths and traditions, but we share our deeply held values of compassion, fairness and equality for all.”

Westminster City Council, meeting of full council Wednesday 11 November 2026.

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