Labour holds Keir Starmer's former seat as Greens' Zack Polanski comes second with 32.8% of the vote
Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali, leader of Camden Council, won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election in north London with 12,292 votes (45.2%), according to the Camden Council count reported by PollCheck and the BBC. Green leader Zack Polanski came second on 8,928 votes (32.8%), cutting Labour's majority from 11,572 at the 2024 general election to 3,364. Turnout was 38.8%, far below the 54.1% recorded in 2024.
Bottom line — Polanski says he will stay on, but Green Party sources told the BBC the status quo is untenable, and bookmakers reportedly moved to favour his replacement.
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The Daily Mirror reported that bookmakers slashed the odds on Polanski being replaced, with Adrian Ramsay named favourite to succeed him.
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The Mirror said Polanski was told by Nick Robinson on Radio 4 Today that he is less liked than Reform leader Nigel Farage, and responded that tripling his vote share was a result he would take.
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Polanski's leadership was already under pressure from a Green conference motion declaring Zionism is a form of racism; the BBC reported a Jewish Greens chair called for his resignation.
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Poll Bludger's Adrian Beaumont noted that the Green rise was partly consolidation, since the 2024 independent Andrew Feinstein (18.9%), who has endorsed Polanski, is not standing.
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Poll Bludger quoted commentator Kirsdarke arguing that the Green campaign's controversial positions appeared to have backfired, while another commenter argued the result still showed the Greens' reach.
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The Conservatives said the Greens had 'descended into the sectarian gutter' over the conference motion and hoped the result marked the end of their 'embrace of antisemitism', according to the PA-sourced Standard and Yahoo reports.
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Reform's Zia Yusuf drew criticism after questioning Abdi-Wali's candidacy because she was born in Somalia, and Abdi-Wali told ITV News she was 'less upset, more just a bit sad' at that rhetoric.
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Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell said voters had chosen 'hope over fear', and Prime Minister Andy Burnham congratulated Abdi-Wali in a speech in Manchester, according to ITV News.
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Camden's count was reported at 27,309 ballots, while Poll Bludger's Kellner-cited analysis suggested Labour usually suffers when challenged from the left at by-elections.