Zack Polanski falsely claimed to have worked at the Ministry of Justice while campaigning for elected office, The Telegraph can reveal.
The Green Party leader said on his official campaign website in 2020 that he was “currently working at the Ministry of Justice on their training & diversity programmes”.
The Telegraph, however, understands that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has no record of Mr Polanski ever working for the department.
When asked about the claim, a spokesman for Mr Polanski said he had worked for the “justice assessment committee”, which he described as “a programme to improve the diversity of justice appointments based in the MoJ”.
This committee does not exist. The only known public reference to a “justice assessment committee” appears to be a comment made by Mr Polanski himself during a City Hall meeting in 2024.
When challenged over the discrepancies, the Green Party leader eventually admitted that, rather than working at the Ministry of Justice, he had been hired through an agency that supplied actors for role-play scenarios to a quango responsible for interviewing would-be judges.
As part of the recruitment process, judicial candidates take part in mock courtroom exercises in which actors play criminals, prison guards and lawyers.
Kreate, the agency Mr Polanski was signed up to, supplied those actors. Kreate, which also provides actors and dancers for PR stunts and “high profile events”, describes its actors as a “diverse bunch of lovelies from all walks of life”.
It says the work is “not a permanent position” but “ad hoc”, and suitable for those “looking to supplement another income”.
Video Poster
Since entering politics six years ago, Mr Polanski has faced repeated scrutiny over a colourful career history that included work as a minor actor and part-time hypnotherapist.
In particular, he has sought to distance himself from a 2013 claim that he could increase a woman’s breast size using the power of his mind.
On Friday, the Greens’ leader declared two-party politics “dead” after his party made historic gains across inner London and university cities. The victories, however, which included seizing four local authorities and two mayoralties, fell short of the predicted “green wave” and came after he was forced to correct previous claims about his career history.
On the eve of the local elections, Mr Polanski admitted that, despite repeatedly claiming otherwise while campaigning for elected office, he had never in fact been a “spokesperson” for the British Red Cross.
He is also facing questions over his council tax affairs after evidence emerged suggesting he had spent the past three years living, at least part-time, on a narrowboat moored in a non-residential marina in Hackney.
Inaccurate claims about MoJ work
Mr Polanski’s initial explanation to The Telegraph about his work in the justice department was that he had worked at the fictional “justice assessment committee”, which he insisted was “within the MoJ”.
This was not the first time he had made such a claim. In 2024, while speaking at a meeting at City Hall, the Green Party leader said his work “at the justice assessment committee” had helped him understand the importance of appointing open-minded judges.
Giving an example, Mr Polanski suggested that judges should consider that someone “who raises their voice in one culture, may not be being aggressive”.
When The Telegraph put a series of questions to the Green Party leader about the fact that he had never worked at the MoJ, that the committee he claimed to work for did not exist, and that he therefore never worked on the department’s “training & diversity programmes”, Mr Polanski’s spokesman appeared to concede that his previous statements about his work in the criminal justice sector were inaccurate.
They clarified that the Green Party leader had actually been hired by Kreate, a third-party agency that describes itself as an “experiential activation and event staffing agency” which supplies actors for role-play scenarios to the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC), a non-departmental body.
Polanski leaflet
Mr Polanski said he was ‘currently working at the Ministry of Justice on their training and diversity programmes’
As part of the JAC’s recruitment process, candidates take part in “a simulation of a court, tribunal or similar setting, based on a scenario they may encounter as a judge”.
The quango’s website states that “parties in the scenario are played by professional actors”, and it appears this was the role Mr Polanski fulfilled
The JAC was established in 2006. Although sponsored by the MoJ, which provided £10.29m in funding in 2024-2025, it operates independently and its employees are not employed by the department.
Mr Polanski’s spokesman said his work for the JAC was covered by a non-disclosure agreement, which prevented him from divulging further details.
On Sunday, a source close to the Green leader said that he is “a real world person who has had many jobs that have helped shape his politics”.
On his website in 2020, Mr Polanski described holding down a diverse range of jobs.
“For the last 10 years I’ve fully immersed myself in the capital’s job economy,” he wrote. “I’ve worked as an actor, a teacher, counsellor and trainer in schools, universities, mental health services and prisons.”
The Telegraph reported this week that Mr Polanski’s acting career included featuring in B-movies as a crack-cocaine-smoking prisoner, a struggling artist and a college prankster. His spokesman added that he also performed Shakespeare.
They also explained that he taught in drama schools, and that his work as a “trainer in schools” consisted of working for an organisation “that would help secondary school students revise for GCSE exams and wellbeing along with providing mental health support”.
Queries about prison work
His work in HM Prison Service was via a third party, and Mr Polanski “worked in a prison in the South East and then in London, doing acting roleplay and training for new prison officers”.
Asked which third-party organisation this was, his spokesman declined to provide details.
Mr Polanski also provided counselling services to students learning circus tricks.
A National Centre for Circus Arts pamphlet stated: “Student Counselling is provided by Zack Polanski” and described him as “a cognitive hypnotherapist and NLP [neuro linguistic programming] practitioner”.
The leaflet, which the centre removed from its website after being approached by The Telegraph, stated that he worked “extensively with performing artists in London” and offered therapy sessions to students at the college.
By his own admission, Mr Polanski has had a varied career history
By his own admission, Mr Polanski has had a varied career history
The Association for Neuro Linguistic Programming (ANLP), a professional body promoting standards in the largely unregulated industry, said it had “no record” of Mr Polanski being a member or holding an ANLP-recognised qualification.
Karen Falconer, the organisation’s chief executive, told The Telegraph: “Having checked our records, we can confirm that Zack Polanski was never a member of ANLP.”
The organisation noted that NLP is unregulated and individuals may describe themselves as practitioners without belonging to a professional body.
Hypnotherapy boasts
Questions have also been raised about Mr Polanski’s work as a hypnotherapist.
Before entering politics, he worked from the Lewis Clinic in Harley Street, central London. In 2013, he appeared in a Sun newspaper feature in which he attempted to enlarge a female reporter’s breasts using hypnotherapy.
Since entering the Green Party leadership race, Mr Polanski has insisted he “never believed” he could enlarge a woman’s breasts in this way and was never paid to try.
In March, however, The Telegraph revealed that he had previously boasted the breast-enlarging hypnotherapy had brought him more business, including requests from men seeking larger penises.
On Tuesday, The Times revealed that Mr Polanski was never a full member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy, despite claiming that status while working as a hypnotherapist.
On his website, he used the letters “MNCH” after his name, meaning “member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy”, and told prospective clients: “I am a member of the National Council of Hypnotherapy, and abide by their strict code of conduct and ethics of good practice and their public protection policies.”
However, although he was a student member until qualifying, he was never a full member.
Council tax questions
The scrutiny of his career history comes as he also faces questions over his council tax arrangements after The Times uncovered an advert placed by his partner offering to sell their narrowboat, moored in Hackney, for £100,000.
The advert, which has since been removed, stated: “Olympian has been our amazing home in the peace and quiet of Springfield Marina on the River Lea for 3 years. We are moving to a house and so will sadly be leaving the gorgeous community behind.”
The listing prompted questions because the marina is non-residential, meaning Mr Polanski could not legally live there full-time or pay council tax there. Despite the advert describing the boat as their “amazing home”, a spokesman for Mr Polanski insisted he only “occasionally” stayed there.
Residents said they regularly saw Mr Polanski in the area.
One café worker said the politician had told a colleague he “lives in the boats”, while a launderette owner described collecting and washing the couple’s laundry over a two-year period between 2023 and September 2025.
A server at Springfield Park café said: “He comes in here every week, not every day.
“He is so nice and happy. He is vegan. He lives near here with his boyfriend.
“He lives in the boats, he told my friend. I think he still lives here, in the area.”
Syed Shami, whose launderette is just over a mile from the marina, said he washed clothes for Mr Polanski and his partner roughly once a month from 2023 until last September.
Mr Polanski has also admitted using a building next to the marina as a postal address.
Asked whether Mr Polanski had paid council tax over the past three years, and where it had been paid, a Green Party spokesman said: “Zack’s council tax is included in the rent he pays his landlord.”
It is understood that Mr Polanski’s position is that his main residence for the past three years was a separate rented property.
