They are miles apart politically, but there is one thing Farage and Polanski have in common

Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage might be polar opposites when it comes to politics - but they do have one thing in common.

The pair are both cutting through in a changing media landscape when attention is scarce and trust in mainstream politics is scarcer still. For Farage, the Reform UK leader, momentum has been building since he won a seat at the general election last year and he continues to top the polls.

But in the six weeks since Polanski became leader of the Greens, membership has doubled, they've polled higher than ever before while three Labour councillors have defected. Has the insurgent firebrand finally met his match? "I'm sure I don't need to say this, but I despise Nigel Farage's politics and disagree with him on almost everything," Polanski tells Sky News.

"But I think his storytelling has undoubtedly cut through and so yes there has been a huge part of us saying 'If Farage can do that with a politics of hate and division, then it's time for the Green Party to do that with a politics of hope and community' and that's absolutely what I intend to keep doing." Polanski was speaking after a news conference to announce the defections of the councillors in Swindon - a bellwether area that is currently led by a Labour council and has two Labour MPs, but was previously controlled by the Tories. It is the sort of story the party would previously have announced in a press release, but the self-described "eco populist" is determined to do things differently to grab attention.

He has done media interviews daily over the past few weeks, launched his own podcast and turbocharged the Greens social media content - producing slick viral videos such as his visit to Handsworth (the Birmingham neighbourhood where Robert Jenrick claimed he saw no white people). Polanski insists that it is not increased exposure in and of itself that is attracting people to his party but his messaging - he wants to "make hope normal again".

"I'm not going to be in a wetsuit or be parachuting from a helicopter.