Daniel Potter, who defected from the Greens to the Conservatives at Babergh District Council, quit the party after it voted to declare Zionism a form of racism.

He now has lifted the lid on the "ruptures and splits" that have opened up in the party since the vote.

He admitted the motion has "cast a shadow over the party" and left many of his Green colleagues questioning their membership.

And he pointed to a widening gulf between the environmentalist Greens who have won seats across rural Norfolk and Suffolk, and the geopolitical agenda that has taken hold under leader Zack Polanski.

Zack Polanski, the leader of the party, did not vote on the motion (Image: Will Colebourne / PA)

The motion was passed at the party's national conference in Brighton by 1,022 votes to 813. 

It brands Zionism - the belief in a Jewish homeland - as racist and opponents claim it effectively calls for the eradication of Israel as it refers only to a single Palestinian state.

Critics also say it has fanned the flames of antisemitism in the UK.

In Norfolk, most of the party's 35 elected representatives have remained tight-lipped on the scandal, with party sources claiming many privately disagree with the........

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