In conversation with Green Party leader Zack Polanski

Zack Polanski was elected as Green Party leader in September

BBC South's political editor Peter Henley has been speaking to party leaders, or deputy leaders, during the autumn party conferences.

They have been discussing some of the key issues facing the south of England and explain what they plan to do.

Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, discussed nationalisation of the water industry and expanding solar energy.

PH: You've got councillors in the south of England. When will you get your first MP or take control of a council?

ZP: I'm hoping very soon. I think the way we do that is by having a relentless focus on lowering people's bills.

Everyone knows the Green Party cares about tackling the climate crisis and protecting the environment.

But what they don't necessarily know is that we have plans to fund the National Health Service properly, to put money in to Send education, to bring the water companies back into public ownership.

PH: Southern Water or Thames Water are huge companies and would cost millions to buy. Are you prepared to nationalise them using taxpayers' money?

I don't accept it would take millions to buy at all because those water companies aren't worth anything.

PH: You'd been taking on all those liabilities - all those leaky pipes.

ZP: Well, I think you could backdate it. So when we sold off Thames Water, for instance, we sold it with zero pounds debt. It now has £70bn debt.

It's not like nationalisation would be an experiment, the experiment has been privatisation. And privatisation under every single measure has utterly failed.

PH: One of your suggestions is a solar panel on every building in the country. What would that do to our balance of payments? They'd all come from China wouldn't they?

ZP: We need to make sure that we've got renewable energy and ultimately that we need to be building, particularly the council houses we need.

PH: Where would the solar panels come from?

ZP: We need to be making sure that we're investing in British manufacturing. And actually those manufacturing industries should be in the public sector as well.

I think lots of people in this country feel like we've outsourced everything.

What does it look like when we're creating those British jobs for the future? Ultimately it's not about £15bn on nuclear weapons or spending more money on war or oil and gas and polluting companies.

But actually for things that are good for this country - good for our communities and that are built for people and not profit.

PH: We've seen some Labour councillors leaving the party, over Gaza particularly. Are you talking to them about coming to your party instead rather than staying as independents in places like Oxford or Aldershot?

ZP: I talk to people all the time because if people are aligned with our values I absolutely want them to join the Green Party.

This year alone we've had 21 defections across England and Wales.

And those are people who were elected under a Labour Party ticket who expected and wanted to deliver change but actually what they've seen nationally - two-child benefit cap, disability benefits cut and an ongoing genocide in Gaza.

People, voters and those councillors are all disillusioned. What they see in the Green Party is a party that will stick to its promises and says 'we are there to serve your communities'.

That's the party that I think people will increasingly get behind.