The detention of two candidates in central London by Met Police officers on a Thursday morning has shifted the conversation around the Green Party from policy platforms to police reports. Saiqa Ali and Sabine Mairey were both taken into custody over anti-Semitism allegations, a development that Kevin Hollinrake and other political opponents suggest is a symptom of a wider issue within the party.
For the party, the timing is precarious. With local elections looming, the party is managing the impact of its candidates’ digital footprints and their alignment with party values. These arrests have led to increased scrutiny from critics who are calling for the party to address extremist rhetoric more effectively within its ranks.
Police detentions and the ‘cockroaches’ post
While the arrests of Ali and Mairey have drawn immediate headlines, the scale of the issue extends across several wards. The Telegraph reports that almost 20 Green candidates have posted offensive material. The nature of this content ranges from anti-Israel sentiment to explicit hate speech.
One of the most stark examples comes from Raja Ateeq, a candidate for the Rushall-Shelfield ward in Walsall. In December 2023, Ateeq posted a social media message referring to Jewish cockroaches
. The party’s response was swift once the post was flagged by the Jewish News, but it highlighted a gap in the party’s vetting process.
“Mr Ateeq has removed the tweet and recognises that it was wrong to have posted it.” Green Party spokesperson
The fallout in Walsall has not been limited to a single candidate. Joe Belcher, who ran in the same ward as Ateeq, was previously dropped as a parliamentary candidate. The party’s decision followed claims by Belcher that the leaders of Israel and Gaza conspired
to execute the October 7 attacks for financial gain. Belcher was subsequently suspended by the party in 2024 after other posts were described as vile.
Leadership accountability and the ‘tip of the iceberg’
The recurring nature of these incidents has placed party leader Zack Polanski under intense scrutiny. The central tension for the party is whether it can maintain a distinction between legitimate criticism of the Israeli state and the promotion of anti-Semitic tropes.
Kevin Hollinrake, the Tory chairman, has framed the current crisis as a failure of leadership. He argued that the recent arrests are just the tip of the iceberg
regarding the party’s internal culture.
“Zack Polanski needs to step up and start taking action against those in his party who are openly promoting the oldest form of racism: anti-Semitism.” Kevin Hollinrake, Tory chairman
The party’s leadership has attempted to distance itself from the rhetoric. A spokesperson stated that the party is investigating anything brought to our attention that doesn’t fit with Green Party values and views
. However, the party’s own deputy leader, Mothin Ali, has previously sparked controversy by suggesting that Hamas were indigenous people defending themselves
during the October 7 attacks.
A pattern of extremist ties and deleted posts
Beyond individual social media posts, there are concerns regarding the ideological leanings of some party members. In Lewisham, south-east London, councillor Hau-Yu Tam reportedly shared a post describing Zionism as the Nazism of our time
. While the post was eventually deleted, Tam has continued to push for a boycott of Israeli goods and has supported a barrister representing Hamas in its effort to overturn its status as a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK.
The party told The Times that such posts do not reflect the views of the Green Party
and that the councillor was urged to remove the material. The party maintains that it takes action once material is brought to its attention, though several instances have involved candidates deleting posts only after they were publicly flagged.
The reach of these views extended into the 2023 Labour conference, where Zoe Holmon, a candidate in Hackney, headed a fringe event. During that event, the audience applauded Hamas, and activists claimed that dead terrorists had ascended to martyrdom
.
As the local election cycle progresses, the Green Party faces a fundamental challenge: proving that its commitment to anti-racism extends to the Jewish community. The Green Party continues to investigate complaints as they are raised, but the volume of reported incidents has led to persistent claims from political opponents that the party has failed to adequately root out anti-Semitism from its candidate pool.
