Chameleon Magazine

 🌱🌀Once a hypnotherapist offering to boost busts with brainwaves, now the solo leader of England and Wales’ Green Party — Zack Polanski is the political crossover episode no one saw coming. Elected with a thumping internal majority on 2 September 2025, he’s the first to break the Greens’ sacred co-leadership code. But is he a serious climate crusader or just selling progressive snake oil with a smile and a slogan?

🎭 From Fringe Festival to Political Fringe

Polanski — born David Paulden (yes, that’s right, he rebranded) — hails from the misty realms of Salford, Greater Manchester. His early life was an eclectic buffet: scholarship boy, drama student, waiter, mental health counsellor, actor, and yes, hypnotist. Somewhere between the hospitality shifts and chakra realignments, a political awakening occurred. Or maybe just excellent timing.

He did a quick spin through the Lib Dem car wash between 2015–2017, emerging freshly green and ready to climb. By 2021, he’d scored a seat on the London Assembly, was deputy leader by 2022, and now sits solo on top, waving the eco-populist flag like it’s Glastonbury and everyone else forgot the tent.

💸 Climate Change, Class War, and TV Bookings

Polanski’s leadership pivoted the Green Party’s image from “lovely people who cycle to meetings” to “angry-but-charming disruptors who want to tax billionaires into extinction.” Universal Basic Income? Tick. Renationalise utilities? Tick. Rebrand climate doom as class warfare? Double tick.

It’s all very zeitgeisty — equal parts Extinction Rebellion and student union flyer. But here’s the kicker: it’s working. Membership’s up. Media presence? Maxed. And while Polanski’s policies come with bite, his tone often floats somewhere between therapy session and TED Talk. Is this what Green credibility looks like now — slick, sassy, and suspiciously well-rehearsed?

🧠 Hypnosis and the “Busty” Blunder

No satirical deep dive would be complete without the infamous breast enlargement by hypnosis scandal. Back in 2013, Polanski (then hustling as a hypnotherapist) ran into a tabloid sting where a journalist “underwent” a free boob-boosting session. Allegedly.

He’s since called the whole thing a media setup and an embarrassing relic of a weirder era. Fair. But the image of your next prime ministerial hopeful waving a pendulum at cleavage concerns doesn’t exactly scream gravitas. Even if, technically, no one was charged and no chests were demonstrably changed.

Still — not illegal, just deeply memeable.

🎤 Laura Kuenssberg, Meet the Charismatic Wild Card

Fast forward to 2025, and Polanski’s now bracing for the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg interrogation chair. Initially ghosted due to “breaking news,” the BBC denied bias while the Greens accused Auntie Beeb of brushing off a valid political voice.

Interview now rescheduled, this might be Polanski’s big reveal — the moment we all find out whether he’s the climate-left’s Boris Johnson (minus the Latin and hair crimes) or the first politician to balance on the fine line between performer and policymaker without faceplanting.

Either way, you just know he’ll name-check wealth inequality and climate justice with hypnotic cadence and the kind of intense eye contact that makes producers nervous.

🧪 Sales Pitch or Social Revolution?

Polanski’s critics say he’s style over substance — a man who swapped lib dem mediocrity for green populism the minute he sensed a niche. They point to the stage background, the hypnotherapy hustle, the media savvy as signs of a salesman with a recyclable pitch.

Supporters counter: maybe that’s exactly what politics needs. A leader who’s lived outside the think-tank bubble, who knows how to speak to people instead of at them. Someone who understands climate change not just as an existential threat, but a class war dressed in melting glaciers.

The real test? Whether the man can stay grounded when the cameras turn off. Or if, like a good stage act, it all vanishes the moment the applause ends.

Can a hypnotist-turned-activist truly lead a revolution? Or are we watching the political version of a fringe theatre act trying to sell front-row seats to Westminster? Drop your verdict in the comments — are you sold on the eco-populist dream, or do you smell freshly packaged charisma? 💬🤔