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Story summary
The Holborn and St Pancras by-election took place on October 7, aiming to replace former Prime Minister Keir Starmer as the MP for this inner London seat. The main contenders were Labour’s incumbent candidate Sadiya Warsi (replaced later by Fatima Williams) and Green Party leader Zack Polanski. While Holborn and St Pancras has historically been a Labour stronghold since its formation in 1983, with Frank Dobson holding it for 32 years and Keir Starmer for 11, the race was unexpectedly tight.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham urged voters to support Labour’s current candidate Fatima Williams, emphasizing his party's commitment to addressing concerns such as rent controls and climate change. In contrast, Polanski highlighted issues like putting Thames Water into public ownership and opposing new drilling in the North Sea. The election saw a surge in Green Party membership and local council gains earlier in 2026, leading to speculation about whether this trend would extend to Westminster.
However, Polanski faced controversy when the Green Party conference passed a motion asserting that "Zionism is racism," though he later stated his opposition to exclusion based on religious or communal affiliations. Despite this contentious week, polls opened with both sides claiming the race was close, reflecting significant support for the Greens in recent local elections and the broader appeal of environmental issues among voters. The result could define Polanski’s leadership of the Green Party and challenge Labour's long-standing dominance in the constituency.
Written for “Holborn By-election Campaigns” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 38 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 2 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 68055: attributed speech only · logged 2026-10-09
Andy Burnham has been warned not to get too carried away with Labour's victory in the Holborn & St Pancras by-election.
asserted
Burnham → warn → election
The party's candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali romped home with a 3,000 majority in the contest for the seat vacated by Keir Starmer.
asserted
candidate → romp → Starmer
The result has left Green leader Zack Polanski struggling to cling on, amid signs that his popularity has already faded.
asserted
popularity → leave → signs
However, elections guru Sir John Curtice said the PM would be wrong to draw the conclusion that Labour is dominant again.
asserted
Labour → say → conclusion
Prof Curtice told the BBC that the outcome in Holborn reflected that the Greens were 'notably weaker' in national polls than the spring, when they made big gains in local elections.
But they remain 'more significant players than they have ever been'.
asserted
they → tell → elections
Andy Burnham has been warned not to get too carried away with Labour's victory in the Holborn & St Pancras by-election
Ms
asserted
Burnham → warn → election
Abdi-Wali's 45 per cent of the vote was down four points on Sir Keir's support in 2024, which in itself was much lower than he secured in 2019 and 2017.
asserted
he → secure → 2019
Prof Curtice said Holborn underlined that Labour was in a better position than before Mr Burnham became leader, but still less popular than two years ago.
asserted
Burnham → say → position
In that context calling a snap election would be 'an extremely risky project'.
asserted
calling → call → election
'This is not a result that is indicative of Labour being able to do well enough to be able to win a general election with an overall majority,' he said.
asserted
he → do → majority
Mr Burnham has been furiously trying to quell rumours of a snap ballot, declaring the idea 'dead' before Labour conference last week.
asserted
idea → try → conference
But he used his big speech in Liverpool last week to unveil policies on social care, electoral reform, the state pension 'triple lock' and Brexit, which would all only happen after an election.
asserted
which → use → election
Kemi Badenoch used the Tory gathering this week to urge her party to be ready for the nation to go to the polls in May.
uncertain
nation → use → May
Ms Abdi-Wali, who is also the leader of Camden Council, was the bookies' favourite
An Opinium survey released at the weekend showed Labour support rising to 30 per cent, the highest since 2024.
asserted
support → release → 2024
The latest YouGov research has found Labour's support was up three points from before its conference, reaching 27 per cent.
asserted
support → find → cent
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