# Polanski eyes upset in Holborn and St Pancras by-election

> Green Party leader Zack Polanski challenges Labour's 32-year hold on the north London seat vacated by Sir Keir Starmer.
- Title: Polanski eyes upset in Holborn and St Pancras by-election
- Summary: Green Party leader Zack Polanski challenges Labour's 32-year hold on the north London seat vacated by Sir Keir Starmer. Voters in Holborn and St Pancras…
- Keywords: holborn and st pancras, zack polanski, green party, sagal abdi-wali, labour party, andy burnham, sir keir starmer, by-election, london, october 2026, politics, news
- Source: The Independent — https://independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/holborn-st-pancras-by-election-live-updates-b3063333.html
- Published: 2026-10-08T14:00:52+00:00
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: holborn and st pancras, zack polanski, green party, sagal abdi-wali, labour party, andy burnham, sir keir starmer, by-election, london, october 2026, politics, news
## Starmer's seat goes to the polls
Voters in Holborn and St Pancras chose on Thursday between fifteen candidates to replace Sir Keir Starmer, who resigned as MP last month. The north London seat has been Labour's for thirty-two years.
## Labour's test under new leader
Andy Burnham faces a test of his re-energised Labour Party as the party seeks to restore voters' faith after poll ratings nosedived during Sir Keir Starmer's time in No ten.
## Labour's candidate holds the seat
Local council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali is hoping to hold the seat for Labour. She faces a challenge from the Green Party, who are fielding party leader Zack Polanski as their candidate.
## Polanski's difficult week
It has been a difficult week for Zack Polanski after the Greens passed a controversial motion at their conference in Brighton asserting that Zionism is racism.

> Zionism is racism
## Polanski's pitch to voters
Polanski told voters the election is looking close and urged them to give the Greens a voice for Camden to push Labour on rent controls, Thames Water public ownership, and blocking new North Sea drilling.

> The election is looking close today.
## Green surge in local elections
The Green Party has seen a surge in membership and record-breaking results in the May twenty twenty-six local elections, gaining more than four hundred forty councillors and gaining control of five councils.
## Conservative candidate Ewan Cameron
Ewan Cameron, a former Camden councillor, is the Conservative candidate. The party came fourth in twenty twenty-four and is unlikely to secure victory. Cameron said he wants safer streets, more family homes and lower living costs.
## Cameron's critique of rivals
Cameron said while families are leaving Holborn and St Pancras, the Green leader wants to talk about Gaza. He said the seat does not want another never here MP focused on distant issues.

> While families are leaving Holborn and St Pancras, the Green leader wants to talk about Gaza.
## Reform's counter-terrorism expert
Reform UK fielded Pete Newman, a former Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism commander who responded to the aftermath of the July seven bombings and led the Met in Westminster to return the borough to normality.
## Liberal Democrats' Patrick Stillman
Patrick Stillman, a Liberal Democrat councillor for West Hampstead and outgoing chairman of Camden Lib Dems, is the party's candidate. The Lib Dems came sixth in twenty twenty-four and face a tough prospect.
## Stillman's message to voters
Stillman said voters deserve better than Labour in chaos or Greens using the seat to prop up their leader's ambitions. He promised to make a distinct liberal message on housing, safety and opportunity for young Londoners.

> Voters here deserve better than a Labour government in chaos, or a Green Party using this seat to prop up its leader's ambitions.
## Fifteen candidates in total
The by-election field included candidates from the Communist League, Christian Peoples Alliance, Climate Party, Official Monster Raving Loony Party, Rejoin EU Party, Restore Britain, UK VOICE, UKIP and the Workers Party.
## Counting begins after polls close
Polling stations closed at ten pm on Thursday. The count began after polls closed, with results usually announced in the early hours of the following morning. In twenty twenty-four the result was announced at four fifteen am.
## Key takeaway

Voters in Holborn and St Pancras chose between fifteen candidates on October eighth to replace Sir Keir Starmer, with Green leader Zack Polanski mounting a challenge to Labour's three-decade control of the seat.