Reform UK reports Green leader Zack Polanski to police over Instagram post

Reform UK reported Green Party leader Zack Polanski to police after he shared an Instagram post that showed a man wearing a top featuring the name “Nigel” beside an image of a guillotine. The complaint pushed a volatile online spat into a law-enforcement matter, with the image now at the center of arguments over whether political provocation has crossed into something police should treat as threatening.

The post drew sharper scrutiny because it was made up of several images, including one showing a man in a black T-shirt with a large guillotine-related image. The controversy quickly became intertwined with Nigel Farage, whose name was linked to the post in wider political and media commentary, with some coverage describing it as implying plans to behead the Reform UK leader.

Polanski was already under pressure over another social media episode earlier in May 2026, when he apologised for sharing a post criticising police over the Golders Green attack. In response to that row, he said people in public service “should not be above scrutiny”, while also saying he had shared the post “in haste”. That earlier dispute had already put him on the defensive over how he uses social media to attack police conduct.

Farage had previously called for Polanski to be arrested over the Golders Green-related post, deepening a personal feud that has repeatedly spilled into public view. The latest police complaint adds a new layer to the dispute by turning a symbolic image into a question for officers, not just voters: whether the post was political satire, reckless mimicry, or a line that should have never been crossed.