One is a former stockbroker from the south who, by his own proud admission, loves smoking, drinking and women. The other’s a proud vegan, gay, northern former actor, who told me he’d never drunk a drop.
But the jubilant Zack Polanski and Nigel Farage have rather a lot in common.
Before you scream, burst out laughing, or think I have lost my marbles, of course, there are very big differences between them.
The Greens talk about a climate emergency. Reform UK calls the government green plans, “net stupid zero”.
Polanski wants a “world without borders”. Farage wants to deport many thousands of people from the UK. And shock horror, they aren’t each other’s cup of tea.
The Green leader says, he “despises” Farage’s politics, accusing him of sowing hate and division.
Farage, when turning down Polanski’s offer of a debate, said, “if you pick a fight with a chimney sweep, you get covered in soot”, going on to say Polanski “has a fan club: all the heroin smokers”.
But, as Polanski and his newest MP Hannah Spencer celebrate a very impressive victory in Gorton and Denton, and Farage’s party chalks up pushing Labour into third place, there are parallels between the leaders and the parties – even if it seems bonkers.