Zack Polanski falsely claimed to be a spokesman for the British Red Cross during his bid to become deputy leader of the Green Party, it has emerged.
The claim appeared on a former fundraising page and independent promotional material, but has been denied by the British arm of the international humanitarian organisation.
The British Red Cross said Mr Polanski had never served as an official spokesperson and confirmed it had raised the issue with the politician’s team.
Responding to the claims, first reported by The Times, the Green Party said references to Mr Polanski’s role related to fundraising events he had hosted for the charity.
Mr Polanski also appeared to address the claims directly by posting several screenshots from his Facebook account showing him at reported British Red Cross events.
In the images, Mr Polanski claimed to have hosted a “British Red Cross Fundraiser 2016” as well as the “Red Cross Dance Competition Semi Final”.
Alongside the pictures, he shared a statement and a link encouraging followers to support the charity.
“I’ve always admired the work of the British Red Cross,” he wrote.
Zack Polanski took to social media to say he has always ‘admired’ the work of the British Red Cross
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“From their work to support refugees to their work supporting people in Gaza & conflict zones around the world.”
In 2020, Mr Polanski wrote on a personal website that he worked as a spokesman for the British Red Cross and said he was “really proud of the work we do”.
Two years later, he appeared to repeat the claim while crowdfunding for his Green Party deputy leadership campaign.
An archived CrowdFunder page seen by GB News stated: “As a spokesperson for the British Red Cross, I care deeply about ending racialised policing and have been calling for an end to the phoney war on drugs.”
PICTURED: Zack Polanski’s biography where he describes himself as a ‘spokesperson for the British Red Cross’
Zack Polanksi has boosted the popularity of the Green Party up to between 15 and 20 per cent polling
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A Green Party spokesman did not directly address the claims, instead calling on The Times to apologise for a cartoon of Mr Polanski published over the weekend.
The spokesman told GB News: “Instead of apologising, the same paper that published an incredibly offensive anti-semitic cartoon of Zack Polanski is devoting column inches to bottom of the barrel stories.”
In the same appeal, the Green Party leader also claimed to be a spokesman with Make Votes Matter, a campaign group for proportional representation.
Make Votes Matter said that while Mr Polanski did serve as a spokesman for the cause, he was not a spokesman for the wider organisation, while the Green Party told The Times Mr Polanski had served as a “representative” of the group.
Zack Polanski and newest Green MP Hannah Spencer campaigning together before the local elections tomorrow
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It is also alleged Mr Polanksi, who appeared in a Sun article where he offered hypnotherapy to increase a woman’s breast size, was not a full member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy, despite making the claim to his clients.
Mr Polanski said last year that he apologised for the claim in a BBC radio interview the day after the story out.
But in March, it was revealed the London Assembly member had told BBC Radio Humberside that he had performed the hypnotherapy “a couple of times” and that there was “anecdotal evidence, at least, of a growth in breast size”.
Despite this, a Green Party spokesman said this week: “Zack has always been clear that this was not a service he offered and that this was an idea of a Sun journalist. He has apologised repeatedly.”
Mr Polanski leads his party into the local elections tomorrow, with his party current polling between 15 and 20 per cent of the vote.
Several Green Party members standing in the local elections have been suspended from the party for alleged anti-semitic posts, with two candidates arrested.
After the latest news about the Green Party leader, a Labour spokesman told the Guardian that Mr Polanski should “come clean with the public”.
The spokesman added: “It’s not the first time the Green party leader hasn’t been straight with the public. He refuses to say if his council candidates have been suspended for vile antisemitism after claiming to have acted.
“Now there are serious questions about the work and qualifications he has boasted about. This is a matter of trust.”