Labour sees off Green challenge to win Holborn by-election

Labour has won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, seeing off a challenge from Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

Camden council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali held the north London seat for Labour, but the party's majority was reduced from 11,572 to 3,364.

The by-election, which was triggered after former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer stood down as an MP, had been seen as a key test of whether Labour under Andy Burnham can win over voters who have switched to the Greens.

Polanski insisted he would stay on as leader despite the result.

He has also come under pressure over his response to a policy motion passed by members at his party's conference that declared Zionism a form of racism.

Labour wins Holborn and St Pancras by-election, beating Green leader Zack Polanski

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Labour's Abdi-Wali secured 45% of the vote, followed by Polanski on 33%.

However, the Green Party's vote share was up by 22% on the 2024 general election.

Ewan Cameron of the Conservatives came a distant third with 1,922 votes (7%), followed by Reform UK, the Liberal Democrats and Restore Britain.

The inner London constituency has been Labour since it was created in 1983, with the party taking at least 40% of the vote at every general election.

In her victory speech at the count in Camden, Abdi-Wali, who came to the UK as a child refugee from Somalia, said her victory was a testament to the success of diversity in the borough.

"Whether you voted for me or not, my commitment to this community runs deep," she said.

"I hope this moment also says something about who gets to belong, for people who look like me, I hope they see themselves reflected in this place and know that their path too belongs here. This is Camden, and this is Britain."

She added: "That is what this victory represents. Winning not by making people afraid of each other, but by bringing people together."

Asked what had gone wrong for his party, Polanski said his party had increased its vote share in the seat since the last election, describing the result as "our second best by-election result in Green Party history".

"I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm not disappointed. No politician runs in a by-election and doesn't want to win," he told told BBC Radio 4's Today.

"But at the same time, to see the growth in what was supposedly a safe Labour seat since 1983 [and] is now a marginal Labour seat, that's clearly growth and next time we can get it over the line."

Speaking to broadcasters earlier in the day, Polanski dismissed suggestions his leadership was under threat, saying: "Of course I can carry on as leader of the Green Party."

He said voters had been "excited about our plans for rent controls, tackling the climate crisis and nationalising Thames Water".

He continued: "So many people told me on the doorstep, so they want to give Andy Burnham a chance [as prime minister].

"Well, he's got a chance now. Let's see what he does with it."

The Greens had hoped they could overturn Labour's substantial majority in the constituency after the party made gains in local elections in the area in May.

It saw a surge in support after Polanski took over as leader in September last year but in recent months polls suggest this has waned.

The by-election came after Polanski faced criticism for his response to a motion passed by members declaring Zionism a form of racism.

Earlier, former party leader Caroline Lucas told the BBC Polanski had failed to show leadership over the motion.

Speaking after polls closed but before the result of the by-election was announced, Lucas criticised Polanski for not taking part in the debate or voting on the motion at the Green Party's conference in Brighton on Sunday, describing the motion as "dangerous" and "divisive".

Asked if Polanski should stand down, she said: "I think let's just see what happens in the coming days and weeks. Obviously he has been completely taken up with this by-election.

"I want him to speak now about what's happened, I want him to show the leadership that was frankly missing on Sunday.

"I think the jury is out about whether he will do that - but I very much hope he will."

The motion defined Zionism as an ideology supporting "an ethnonationalist Jewish state" and backs a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine", which includes modern-day Israel.

Polanski was not present for the vote on the motion, after leaving the conference early to campaign in Holborn and St Pancras.