Labour holds Holborn and St Pancras as Abdi-Wali defeats Green leader Polanski
Sagal Abdi-Wali took 12,292 votes to Zack Polanski’s 8,928 in the first by-election of Andy Burnham’s premiership, as a 13-point swing to the Greens fell short in Keir Starmer’s old seat.
Labour has held the parliamentary seat of Holborn and St Pancras, seeing off a strong challenge from Green Party leader Zack Polanski in the first by-election since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.
Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden council, won 12,292 votes, 45.2 per cent of the total, against 8,928 votes, 32.8 per cent, for Polanski: a Labour majority of 3,364. The Conservatives finished a distant third on 7.1 per cent, followed by Reform UK on 5.9 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats, on 3.4 per cent, lost their deposit.
The contest was triggered by the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer as an MP, six weeks after he stood down as Prime Minister. The north London seat has returned Labour MPs since its creation in 1983: Frank Dobson held it for 32 years, Starmer for 11.
This is Camden, and this is Britain.Sagal Abdi-Wali, after winning the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, 9 October 2026
Turnout was 38.8 per cent, down from 54.1 per cent at the 2024 general election and below the 58.7 per cent recorded in the Makerfield by-election and 47.5 per cent in Gorton and Denton.
Abdi-Wali came to Britain as a child refugee from Somalia and grew up in Camden, where she was elected as a councillor in 2022 before becoming leader of the council in May.
Speaking after the declaration, 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.”
The result caps a bruising week for the Greens. Their annual conference passed a motion on Zionism that the Prime Minister called “terrible judgement”, urging the party’s leadership to reverse the decision. Polanski did not take part in the vote, saying he was campaigning in the constituency instead.
Caroline Lucas, the party’s former leader, told BBC Newsnight: “I would have hoped he would have been a strong critic of [that] motion, because the motion was flawed from top to bottom.” Asked whether Polanski should stand down, she said: “Let’s see what happens in the coming days and weeks.”
Polanski denied he had lost control of the party, saying its membership had grown from around 60,000 when he ran for leader to 220,000. Asked by Sky News whether he would stay on, he said: “Yes absolutely, that’s what leaders do.”
For Burnham, holding one of Labour’s safest seats removes the threat of an early humiliation. But a swing of 13 points from Labour to the Greens since 2024 underlines how far the party’s left flank has shifted, in the seventh by-election since the general election.
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