Labour holds Starmer's old seat as Green leader Polanski comes second

Labour has held Holborn and St Pancras, the London seat vacated by the former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, fending off a strong challenge from the Green Party leader, Zack Polanski.

Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council, won 12,292 votes, 45.2 per cent of the total. Mr Polanski came second with 8,928 votes, 32.8 per cent, a majority of 3,364. Turnout was 38.8 per cent, down more than 15 points on the 2024 general election. Fifteen candidates stood.

"Those who seek to divide us"

Ms Abdi-Wali, who came to the UK as a child refugee from Somalia, said her victory was a defeat for "those who seek to divide us". "We have a responsibility to defend what we've built and pass it on," she said.

Polanski stays on

Mr Polanski, who is not an MP, congratulated the winner and said he would remain as Green leader. He described the result as part of "Andy Burnham's honeymoon", adding: "One in three voters backed us here, and we know that many more considered it."

The Greens' vote rose by more than 22 points compared with 2024, when they finished third with 10.4 per cent. Labour's share fell by around 4 points from the 49 per cent Sir Keir won at the general election.

A boost for Burnham

The result, which had been expected, will encourage the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who replaced Sir Keir over the summer. Labour MPs had feared that Sir Keir's unpopularity was opening the way for Reform UK at the next general election, and the party also lost left-wing support to the Greens earlier this year. Holborn and St Pancras suggests many of those voters are returning.

The campaign was overshadowed for the Greens by a row over a motion, passed at their conference, declaring that "Zionism is racism". Most Green MPs, Jewish groups and other parties criticised the motion, and Mr Polanski did not vote on it.

About the seat

Holborn and St Pancras covers Camden Town, King's Cross, Bloomsbury and Holborn in the London Borough of Camden. Labour has held it since it was created in 1983. Sir Keir was first elected there in 2015, became Labour leader in 2020 and led the party to a landslide at the 2024 general election, before stepping down as Prime Minister this year and as an MP on 1 September.

Other candidates included Ewan Cameron for the Conservatives, Patrick Stillman for the Liberal Democrats, Pete Newman for Reform UK and George Galloway for the Workers Party of Britain.

What happens next

Ms Abdi-Wali will be sworn in as an MP when the Commons next sits. The Greens now have five MPs, compared with one in 2023, and Mr Polanski is expected to face continuing questions about his leadership after failing to win a seat himself.