Labour Retains Holborn and St Pancras Seat in By-Election

The Labour Party retained the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary seat on October 9, 2026, with candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali securing 12,292 votes (45%). Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council and a former child refugee from Somalia, defeated Green Party leader Zack Polanski, who received 8,928 votes (33%). Conservative candidate Ewan Cameron finished third with 1,922 votes. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who left the seat to focus on international affairs.

The result provides an early electoral boost to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who took office in July. However, the contest revealed a 13% swing toward the Green Party, which saw its vote share increase by over 22% since the last general election. Voter turnout was 38.7%, the lowest recorded in an English by-election during the current parliament.

Zack Polanski faces significant leadership pressure following the defeat and a controversial Green Party conference motion in Brighton declaring that Zionism is racism. The motion led Israel to bar Polanski from entering the country and drew criticism from Labour Chair Bridget Phillipson. Former Green Party leader Caroline Lucas criticized Polanski for a failure of leadership and for not voting on the motion. Despite these challenges, Polanski vowed to remain leader, citing the party's growth to 220,000 members and attributing the Labour victory to a honeymoon period for Prime Minister Burnham.