The Green Party Has Been Infiltrated by Islamists and Is a Danger to Society, says former deputy leader Shahrar Ali

Max Thompson, Campaigns Officer

23 April 2026

In a recent episode of the Free Speech Union podcast, External Affairs Officer Connie Shaw was joined by the former deputy leader of the Green Party, Dr Shahrar Ali — and he did not hold back. Dr Ali described the Green Party as "an actual danger to society", citing what he called an "unholy alliance of Islamists and gender ideologues" that has taken hold of the organisation.

The party has undergone a dramatic transformation since Zack Polanski became leader in 2025. Membership has exploded from 68,000 to 215,000, and the party gained another voice in Parliament when Hannah Spencer won the Gorton and Denton by-election — a historically safe Labour seat.

Dr Ali is well placed to make such judgements. He served as deputy leader of the Green Party between 2014 and 2016, but was removed as justice spokesperson in 2022 over his gender-critical views and later expelled from the party in 2024 for the same reason. In September 2024, he won a landmark employment tribunal case against the Green Party — the first of its kind — with the judge ruling that he had been discriminated against and unlawfully dismissed as justice spokesperson on grounds of his protected belief. He was awarded £9,100 in damages and the Green Party was ordered to pay £90,000 towards his legal costs.

That same month, the party expelled him entirely, citing complaints about those same gender-critical beliefs — beliefs that are, of course, legally protected under the Equality Act 2010. The Supreme Court confirmed last year in For Women Scotland v The Lord Advocate that sex is defined by biology, not gender identity. Despite this landmark ruling, individuals silenced or disciplined for expressing gender-critical views remain the single largest category of cases handled by the Free Speech Union.

While Shahrar is a Muslim himself, he did not shy away from criticising the Green Party — and in particular one of his successors as deputy leader, Mothin Ali — for deliberately targeting Muslim voters and communities with low levels of integration during the Gorton and Denton by-election in February. He stated that he believes firmly that religion should be kept out of politics.

He told Connie Shaw: "As somebody who does self-identify as a Muslim, I keep my religion out of politics — it's as simple as that. And I think religion has to be kept out — within reason — of politics, which should be a secular space. When I campaign as a Green candidate, I campaign first and foremost as a Green."

Despite the treatment that Shahrar — and many other traditional Green Party members — have faced for holding gender-critical views, he still sees his future within the party. Dr Ali said: "I want to get back into the party because they are an actual danger to society. What's happened now is this unholy alliance between Islamists and gender ideologues. The best thing that the Green Party can do at the moment is to say to all those Islamists in the party: go and form your own party."

Watch the full episode of the FSU podcast here and read more in The Telegraph.