Image source, PA

Zack Polanski has criticised Labour's record on housing, calling for a three-year cap on rent rises in the private sector.

Speaking at the Greens' annual conference in Brighton, Polanski argued that his party could move Labour "in the right direction". He told his audience: "Vote Green, and watch Labour move".

In his half-hour address, he didn't mention the Conservatives or Reform UK, but launched repeated attacks on Labour's record in office.

The Green leader said "sustained pressure" from his party had forced Labour to change its stance on issues including climate and Israel.

At times this felt like a speech aimed as much at left-leaning Labour voters as at the Green faithful, writes our political correspondent.

We're ending our live coverage, but you can read more in our news story.

Kate Whannel
Political reporter, reporting from Brighton

Image source, EPA

I was in the conference room as Zack Polanski delivered his speech to Green Party delegates in Brighton.

The audience’s reaction offered a glimpse of how his points were received.

The first standing ovation came as Polanski attacked the government’s stance on Palestine Action.

There were also chants of "free, free Palestine".

Some of the biggest cheers, however, came in response to Polanski’s call to "build council homes at scale" and tackle the "scandalous cost of private rents".

His proposal for a three-year "emergency brake" on rent increases has been the focus of many media reports.

What impact could capping private rent rises have?published at 15:35 BST 2 October

15:35 BST 2 October

By Anthony Reuben

Zack Polanski has proposed implementing a three-year emergency brake on private rent in England, a policy which would mean rents could only rise by the lowest figure of rising prices, average growth in earnings or 2%.

Housing is a devolved issue, so if Polanski were prime minister he would only have the power to implement this in England.

Looking at a chart of annual increases in private rent in England since 2016 indicates such a policy would have had a significant impact.

That would particularly have been the case at the end of 2024, when the average annual increase was about 9%.

But the Institute for Fiscal Studies has previously warned, external that rent controls would result in "unintended consequences" in the rental market, including demand for properties exceeding the supply of available homes.

You can read more about the policy here.

How Polanski's core message has changedpublished at 15:19 BST 2 October

15:19 BST 2 October

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, reporting from Brighton

Image source, PA

Zack Polanski’s core message of why people should vote Green has changed over the course of the last year.

He used to say he wants to replace the Labour Party.

But his main message today was “vote Green and watch Labour move”.

That’s an acknowledgement of two things – that the Greens’ polling over the past 12 months has been impressive, but that it has also dipped more recently.

The party believes its popularity in the last year has forced the government to change course on issues such as Gaza and climate.

But with questions about his leadership on the minds of some members here, it's perhaps not a surprise that he’s slightly changed his tone.

He did say the party couldn’t wait for the government to move “in the right direction”.

But at times this felt like a speech aimed at left-leaning Labour voters as much as the Green faithful gathered here.

Image source, Reuters

Here are the key takeaways from Zack Polanski's speech:

• The three-year "emergency brake" on private rents would mean no rent rises above the lowest of CPI inflation, wage growth or 2%, Polanski told the conference

• He called the treatment of Palestine Action campaigners - a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK - a "stain" on the country's reputation and called for the group to be de-proscribed
• Polanski said the party aims to "tax the very richest" and bring public services back into public hands
• On recent anti-migrant protests, he described the sight of masked men "intimidating" people as "despicable"
• On climate, Polanski called for "no more fossil fuel extraction"
• He also called for a "green revolution" with homes achieving the "highest energy efficiency" and a "massive expansion of community energy"
• Polanski listed a number of areas he said the Greens are putting pressure on Labour, stating: "Vote green and watch Labour move"

We'll bring you another analysis from our political correspondent soon.

Image source, PA

Polanski wraps up his speech: "Only with real hope and real change will we build the country we are proud of. Thank you, let's go."

Applause rings out around the hall in Brighton as he’s joined on stage by Green MPs Hannah Spencer and Sian Berry.

Polanski returns to his "three key questions" mentioned earlier.

How to make life more affordable: He says that under Labour, "rents are set to rise" and "energy bills are spiking". The Greens would tackle this by "nationalising water, making every home efficient" and putting an emergency brake on rents.

How to "back the caring majority": Polanski says the Greens would apply a windfall tax to "obscene bank profits" and ensure welfare support is there "for those who need it".

How to protect the planet: He says that "unlike Labour", his party "stick to the science" and calls for oil and gas to be kept "in the ground".

Polanski sets up dividing line on oil and gaspublished at 14:35 BST 2 October

14:35 BST 2 October

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, reporting from Brighton

Zack Polanski has dedicated a decent chunk of his speech to talking about climate change.

That's perhaps a nod to the feeling among some members here in Brighton that Polanski doesn't talk enough about traditional green issues.

This felt like a different approach to his leader's speech last year.

He said that his party's view on the climate "sits at the heart of all we do".

Again there was fairly strong criticism of Andy Burnham, who he accused of not doing enough when wildfires were spreading around the country this summer.

And he set up a potential clear dividing line with the prime minister on oil and gas.

Burnham is thought to be in favour of more drilling where licences already exist in the North Sea.

Polanski said: "This summer's fires should have been the final nail in the coffin for new oil and gas."

The Greens might feel that is one area that could be particularly fruitful for them among their voter base over the coming months.

Polanski then asks: "What is a clean green revolution?"

He says it means transforming homes to the "highest energy efficiency", reducing pollution and bringing clean air.

It also means "a massive expansion of community energy" so power is cheap, clean and "in our hands", he says.

Polanski then asks whether Labour will "face down the fossil fuel giants". He says he's "not particularly hopeful", but Labour has delayed drilling in one area because of pressure from the Greens.

The Green leader then lists the different areas where his party is putting pressure on Labour.

He adds that it's clear that if you vote Green, you "watch Labour move".

Image source, Bloomberg via Getty Images

Polanski then turns his attention to wildfires, describing how "something changed this summer" across the UK.

He says the climate crisis has left people sweltering in their flats in London and waking up in the middle of the night in Manchester, smelling smoke from "hills burning miles away".

He adds that, across the world, the climate crisis has ravaged communities, taking lives and livelihoods for years.

But the destruction reached the UK's shores "this summer like never before", he says.

He criticises the government's silence, saying it was only when the Greens demanded it that the prime minister called a Cobra meeting - and all this did was ban disposable barbecues.

He then points to proposals to drill for oil in the North Sea.

"No more fossil fuel extraction and a clean energy revolution now," he says to more applause.

Polanski says many "will feel vindicated" by the foreign secretary's comments at Labour's party conference that people "raising our voices against the atrocity in Gaza were right".

But he says that "metres away" from where Ed Miliband was speaking, "principled people were being hauled away by police".

Polanski says their crime was "holding up signs" and calls it a "stain and a shame on this country's reputation".

He accuses the Labour government of being "so determined to crush dissent" that it "labels those with views it doesn't want to hear as terrorists".

The Green Party is calling for the government to "drop the charges, end the genocide and de-proscribe Palestine Action", he says.

Polanski says Labour failed to take on powerful interestspublished at 14:24 BST 2 October

14:24 BST 2 October

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, reporting from Brighton

Image source, PA

Zack Polanski has faced something of a conundrum since Andy Burnham entered Number 10.

The Green poll rating was already on a bit of a slide since reaching a high a few months ago – and that trend has continued as the new prime minister has attempted to gain back some voters on the left.

Polanski has been careful not to be too critical of Burnham.

He's often said the prime minister has the right diagnosis for the UK's problems, but not necessarily the right prescription.

But he has gone further than that today, particularly when discussing rent controls.

Polanski said that by not introducing such a policy, the government had failed to "take on the powerful vested interests of developers and big landlords".

He went on to say: "Slogans without action, half-measure legislation, outdated economic management - it's just not good enough."

It felt like the most critical he’s been of Burnham since he entered office.

Polanski says we’re living in "a tense and volatile world" with fewer places of refuge than ever before.

He says youth centres, community centres and pubs are "cornerstones of our neighbourhood" that are no longer there in the same way - and when we don’t have these physical spaces, things can spill "on to our streets".

He talks about the "despicable sight" of masked men "intimidating" people arriving in the country and pays tribute to the RNLI for protecting communities, saying "you are the very best of us".

Polanski then turns to the trans community, saying it is "still discriminated against" and harassed.

He adds that the Green Party will always stand with "everyone who is under attack", including the LGBT community, the migrant community and the disabled community.

Polanski also calls for no rent rises “above CPI, wage growth or 2%, whichever is lower”.

He says the party wants to see an end to sudden rent rises and evictions “under the guise of rent rises”, and to ensure “no more uncertainty, no more fear”.

The Greens would also introduce a “national fair rents guarantee”, Polanski says, which would “keep rents affordable for everyone forever”.

The Labour government won’t take this “simple common sense measure” unless it’s forced to, Polanski adds.

He criticises Labour ministers for “talking down rent controls against the evidence”, which he says shows the party won’t take on “big landlords”. He adds that Labour’s “half-measure” reforms don’t “go far enough”.

“It is not good enough, it is not going to cut it,” he adds.

Polanski says the Greens are fighting to end the "leasehold trap".

He adds that the government needs to be stopped from using the "blunt tool" of interest rates to control inflation. He also says it's time to build council homes "at scale".

He says the vital step is tackling "the scandalous cost of private rents" and praises Green MP Carla Denyer for calling on the government to tackle the affordability crisis in private renting.

As expected, he announces that the Green Party is calling on the government to introduce a three-year emergency brake on private rents.

He is met with applause from delegates in Brighton.

A pitch to younger voterspublished at 14:13 BST 2 October

14:13 BST 2 October

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, reporting from Brighton

There's been a clear focus on the Green Party's pitch to younger voters so far in this speech.

Figures inside the party are concerned about Andy Burnham taking up some of the political space on the left that the Greens have occupied in recent months.

But the younger vote is an area they feel is still fruitful for Zack Polanski’s party.

He's mentioned university students who can only afford to commute to lectures, young people struggling to find a first job and people in their thirties having to move back in with parents.

Those are the voters that the Greens have tried to target over the last year, as they’ve switched focus from traditional eco policies, to speaking far more about wealth and inequality.

Zack Polanski says he’s guided by “three essential questions”:

• How to make life more affordable for everyone
• How to back “the caring majority over a tiny wealthy elite”
• How to protect the planet for generations to come

Turning to housing, he says that, for many young people, living alone “feels now like some sort of impossible dream”.

Young families are “being forced to choose” between starting a family and staying in the places they love, he says, citing as evidence that “more than 90 primary schools” have closed in London since 2019 because “there aren't enough children to fill them”.

Families are being priced out of the city, he says.

Polanski continues, saying he took over as leader of a party that was already growing - but that this year has "been wild".

He talks about the cost of living, saying some people can only afford to shop for food by buying products with yellow stickers.

People are waking up early and walking to work because they "can't afford" a bus fare, he says.

Polanski says the party wants to "tax the very richest", bring public services back into public hands and "end rip-off Britain".

Image source, Reuters

The Green Party leader opens his speech with "Well, what a year". Polanski says the party has "more members than ever before", had the "first Green breakthrough" in the Senedd and won its first ever Westminster by-election.

"Last May, London turned Green," he says, adding that "it wasn't just London" but that "every corner of this country" has elected Green representatives.

"Yes, we did win elections in greater numbers than ever before, but more than that, we've changed this country," he adds.

Image source, Reuters

Green Party leader Zack Polanski is on stage, beginning his speech.

Watch live at the top of this page.