Who is Jack Polanski and what is his professional background?
Executive summary
Zack (not Jack) Polanski is a British politician, actor and former hypnotherapist who was elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales in September 2025 after serving as deputy leader and as a London Assembly Member; he was born David Paulden in 1982 and reclaimed the family name Polanski at 18 [1] [2]. Reporting consistently describes a mixed background of immersive theatre work, youth and mental‑health support roles, hospitality/gig‑economy experience, and a spell as a hypnotherapist before rising through Green Party ranks [3] [4] [1].
1. Who he is: politician and public figure
Zack Polanski is the elected leader of the Green Party of England and Wales (elected September 2025) and a sitting member of the London Assembly; outlets profile him as an insurgent, “eco‑populist” leader who won a decisive internal contest and has framed his agenda beyond climate issues to broader left‑wing priorities [2] [1].
2. Name, origins and identity
Born David Paulden in Salford in 1982 to a Jewish family, Polanski later reverted to the family’s original surname at age 18; multiple profiles note his Jewish background and that the family had earlier changed its name when they arrived in the UK [1] [5].
3. Early education and acting roots
Profiles and bios report that Polanski attended Stockport Grammar School on scholarship, moved to a local sixth‑form/college, studied at Aberystwyth University and later attended drama training in Georgia, USA. Before politics he performed in immersive theatre with DifferenceENGINE and appeared in productions such as The Hollow Hotel and The People’s Revolt [4] [6] [7].
4. Breadth of pre‑political work
City Hall and feature reporting portray Polanski as having a varied working background: actor, youth worker, mental‑health counsellor, hospitality and gig‑economy roles, and corporate training are all mentioned across sources — a résumé the Green leader has used to position himself as having practical experience outside traditional politics [3] [8].
5. Hypnotherapy episode and media scrutiny
Multiple outlets record that Polanski worked as a hypnotherapist; an often‑cited anecdote is a 2013 story in which a journalist from The Sun underwent a hypnotherapy session with him for an article (Polanski reportedly provided the session free) — this work has been raised by both profiles celebrating his variety of experience and by pieces scrutinising how it fits with his political persona [4] [1] [7] [8].
6. Political trajectory and positions
Polanski served as deputy leader of the Greens and was elected to the London Assembly in 2021; reporting says he champions electoral reform, environmental justice and wider left‑wing causes, and that upon taking party leadership he signalled a willingness to broaden the party’s pitch beyond environment‑only politics [3] [1].
7. How sources differ: praise, profiles and criticism
Feature outlets (Independent, Grazia, Jewish News) foreground his working‑class touchpoints, theatre past and left‑wing policy ambitions [1] [7] [5]. Conversely, right‑leaning tabloids focus on any perceived dissonance between his biography and working‑class claims — for example pointing to private‑school attendance or corporate training roles to question his authenticity [8]. Readers should weigh sympathetic profile pieces against partisan critique: each source emphasizes different elements of the same résumé.
8. What the supplied reporting does not say
Available sources do not mention a person named “Jack Polanski” beyond IMDb name listings that appear to reference an actor credit; mainstream UK political and news reporting consistently refers to “Zack Polanski” — not “Jack” — when describing the Green Party leader and his background [9] [10]. Sources do not provide detailed verification of every educational or employment claim (for example precise dates at drama school) beyond the summaries cited above [4] [6].
9. Bottom line for readers
Zack Polanski is a public figure whose profile combines arts, therapeutic and gig‑economy experience with a rapid rise in Green Party politics; journalists and commentators both praise his eclectic background as an asset and use elements of it to question his political narrative. Readers should note that most major pieces identify him as Zack Polanski (born David Paulden) and not “Jack,” and should treat partisan interpretations of his past as opinionated readings of a shared set of facts [1] [8].