In Britain, we have a two-party system. There are the Conservatives, and there's the Labour Party.

And if you want the government, it's going to be one of those two. There is a second rank of parties,

they're sometimes in government, but generally not. The Liberal Democrats, the SNP, of course,

are in government in a devolved administration in Scotland, and more recently,

the Green Party of England and Wales. They won their first MP in 2010, that was Karen

Lucas and Brighton, Pavilion, but it's only since 2019, in the last four years,

they've picked up serious numbers of councillors. They now control a council in England for the

first time ever with an overall majority, and they're picking up people from Suffolk to Bristol

to Burnley. They're very much a national party, so we thought it's high time we speak to one of

these representatives who isn't Caroline Lucas. That's why today we're speaking to the party's

Deputy Leader, Zack Polanski. Zack Polanski, welcome to Downstream. Thanks for having me.

It's a very hot day today, so I'm welcoming you not just to an interview show, but also to

make a shift in our sauna. You're wearing a blazer there. You're trying to keep up the politicians

stick. I'm just trying to be smart. We'll see how long that lasts. Tell us a little bit about

yourself, because some of our audience will know who you are. You've been at a more prominent face

for the Green Party, your Green Party politician. What's your story, what positions do you hold

where do you come from originally? Yeah, so I think the most obvious thing to say is that never

intended to be a politician in fact, I was an actor. I was doing lots of work in community theatre.

Anyone who watches this, who knows he's been an actor, will know when you say you're an actor,

it probably means you do about six or seven different jobs. Do anything to pay the rent,

basically I was working in a bar, working in a nightclub, working in a school, doing lots of

different things. But the community theatre that I was doing largely was something called theatre

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