Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali defeats Zack Polanski in Starmer’s former seat
Zack Polanski claps as by-election winner Sagal Abdi-Wali gives her victory speech (Picture: James Veysey/Shutterstock)
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has failed in his bid to become an MP, with a narrow loss in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
Voters in the seat, which was held by ex-PM Sir Keir Starmer before his resignation last month, instead decided to stick with Labour.
Victorious candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council since May, secured 12,292 votes to Polanski’s 8,928.
The by-election was seen as a major test of new prime minister Andy Burnham’s appeal in London, where Labour’s support collapsed under Starmer.
In May’s local elections, the party lost control of 10 councils in the capital – though it stayed in control of Camden, which closely matches the area where Thursday’s election took place.
Long before the former PM announced his intention to step down from the House of Commons, Polanski singled out Holborn and St Pancras as a seat he had his eye on.
@alrightgov Labour’s @sagal4_hsp has held off the challenge from Green Party leader @zackpolanski for the Holborn and St Pancras seat #UKNews #UKPolitics #ZackPolanski #Labour #HolbornStPancras ♬ original sound – Alright, Gov? – Alright, Gov?
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It was seen as the kind of diverse, urban constituency that his party could pinch from Labour amid the boost in polling and membership that followed Polanski’s election in October last year.
But the Green leader has faced mounting pressure in recent weeks over falling poll numbers for his party and the decision by members to oppose two amendments he supported in a controversial vote to oppose an Israeli state.
His loss in the north London seat may prompt his opponents in the party to question whether a new direction is needed.
What does this result mean for Labour and the Greens? The result in Holborn and St Pancras will be a relief for Andy Burnham and Labour – even if it wasn’t exactly a resounding victory. Burnham’s victory in Makerfield earlier this year was impressive enough to catapult him into Downing Street. The other big summer by-election, in Clacton, was seen as a pyrrhic victory for Nigel Farage after his novelty opponent Count Binface secured more than 25% of the vote. Holborn and St Pancras was neither of those. It’s clear that the Green threat was real for Labour, but the margin was hardly embarrassing. On the Green Party side, things are more troubling. Its most high-profile candidate probably should have done better, even if this was a Labour safe seat. Zack Polanski may be weighing up whether this was truly a risk worth taking. The glory days of his leadership, when he vowed his party would ultimately replace Labour, appear to be long gone.
The Green Party conceded the by-election at around 2.30am.
After the defeat was confirmed, a spokesman said the party is ‘here to stay and just getting started’.
He added: ‘Achieving a huge swing in one of Labour’s safest seats – an increase of 22% in vote share since the General Election – is an incredible result for the Green Party, and during a honeymoon period for the new PM.
‘We are disappointed to miss out tonight but any ideas of a return to the cosy two-party system is just wishful thinking on the part of the establishment.’
Later, Polanski told the BBC: ‘So many people told me on the doorsteps that they want to give Andy Burnham a chance.
‘Well, he’s got a chance now, let’s see what he does with it.’
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New Holborn and St Pancras MP Sagal Abdi-Wali (Picture: ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Polanski succeeded in significantly cutting back Labour’s lead in the seat – though turnout was just 39%, considerably lower than the two recent by-elections in Clacton and Makerfield.
Starmer won Holborn and St Pancras, a seat he had held since the 2015 election, with a majority of more than 11,000 votes in 2024.
In her victory speech, Abdi-Wali referenced her background as a child refugee from Somalia.
She said: ‘This place gave me hope and opportunity when my family needed it most, and I want every single young person in this community, whatever their background and circumstances, to feel that same opportunity belongs to them.’
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