The Guardian
· collected 2026-10-09 · by Sammy Gecsoyler and Peter Walker
Story summary
The Holborn and St Pancras by-election in north London aims to replace Sir Keir Starmer, who resigned from his position as MP. The race is primarily between Labour's Daniella Abdi-Wali and Green Party leader Zack Polanski. Historically a Labour stronghold since 1983, the seat has seen significant challenges due to recent political tensions, particularly over the war in Gaza which led many left-wing voters to support the Greens during local elections in May 2026.
Polanski hopes to capitalize on this trend and secure his party's first parliamentary seat. However, his campaign faced a setback when the Green Party conference controversially passed a motion declaring "Zionism is racism," though Polanski abstained from voting and later condemned any exclusion based on religious affiliation. This has put pressure on his leadership and could affect voter sentiment.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham issued a last-minute appeal for voters to support Abdi-Wali, emphasizing the importance of maintaining Labour's strong presence in the area given its history as a Labour stronghold held continuously since 1983 by Frank Dobson and Keir Starmer. Polls suggest the race is tight, with both parties making final pushes ahead of election day. The outcome could be pivotal for Polanski’s leadership of the Green Party and Burnham's efforts to restore faith in the Labour Party among left-wing voters.
Written for “Holborn By-electionCampaigns” on 2026-10-09,
grounded in this article and the 40 other(s) covering the same event.
Labour is starting to win back voters on the left who became disillusioned under Keir Starmer’s leadership, the party’s deputy leader has claimed after it saw off Zack Polanski and the Greens to win the Holborn and St Pancras byelection.
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it → start → byelection
Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali took 45% of a relatively low turnout to keep Starmer’s old north London seat for the party, pushing Polanski, who had stood for the party he leads, into second place on 33%.
asserted
he → take → %
While the result was broadly as predicted, Labour strategists were buoyed up by the party’s relatively straightforward route to victory in a diverse inner-city area of the sort the Greens have been targeting with recent success.
asserted
Greens → predict → success
The result “sends a clear message to those voters who lost faith in Labour in recent years”, said Lucy Powell, who called last month for the party to unite progressive voters under Andy Burnham if it wants to win the next election.
asserted
it → send → election
After the byelection win, she told the Guardian: “We hear you, we’ve listened and we know we needed to be clearer about what we stand for and what type of country we want to see, proudly putting our values centre stage.
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we → tell → values
We’re delighted so many of you are backing us once again.”
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many → ’re → us
The byelection came after the Green party voted at their conference last weekend to adopt a hugely controversial policy equating Zionism with racism, and saying Israel should be replaced with a single Palestinian state.
asserted
Israel → come → state
Polanski has been criticised for showing minimal leadership on the most toxic internal debate the Greens have faced in living memory, with the chair of Jewish Greens saying he should resign.
asserted
he → criticise → Greens
The byelection, called after Starmer resigned his Commons seat shortly after he was ousted by Burnham, saw a low turnout of 38.7%, possibly due to the widespread predictions that Labour was set to win, despite a major campaigning effort from the Greens.
uncertain
Labour → call → Greens
The turnout also suggests Burnham could still face a battle to engage some voters in urban areas, particularly London, where the Greens took control of three councils in May’s local elections.
uncertain
Greens → suggest → elections
In an emotional victory speech, Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee who came to the UK from Somalia in the 1990s, hit out at “those who seek to divide us”, in what appeared to be a response to Reform UK’s Zia Yusuf, who suggested she was not British shortly after the byelection was called.
uncertain
byelection → come → Yusuf
“I hope this moment says something about who gets to belong,” she said.
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she → hope → something
“For people who look like me, I hope they see themselves reflected in this place and know that their path too belongs here.
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path → look → place
Responding to the defeat, Polanski, who leads the Greens in England and Wales, said that while the result showed his party remained a major threat to Labour, many voters had told him they wanted to “give Andy Burnham a chance”.
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they → respond → chance
It was the Greens’ second best-ever byelection result, more evidence of the party’s increased prominence and campaigning power since Polanski became leader 13 months ago.
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Polanski → increase → prominence
The best came in February, when the Greens took an equally safe Labour seat, Gorton and Denton in Greater Manchester, in a major upset that weakened Starmer’s position.
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that → come → position
Around the same time, the Greens peaked at 21% in national polling, above Labour.
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Greens → peak → Labour
Polanski’s position has come under scrutiny since the Zionism motion was passed, with critics accusing him of abdicating leadership after he missed the debate to campaign in the byelection, giving no clear message about whether or not he backed it.
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he → come → it
In interviews after the byelection loss, Polanski said he would have voted against the motion had he attended, given that two amendments he supported, both saying any future structure of a Palestinian state should be decided by Palestinians rather than a one-state system being imposed, were voted down.
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structure → say → Palestinians
On Friday, Vivien Lichtenstein, chair of Jewish Greens, said Polanski, who is Jewish, made a “big mistake” by avoiding the vote.
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who → say → vote
Asked if he should continue in his role, she told Times Radio: “No, I think he should resign.”
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he → ask → Radio
However, other members of Jewish Greens said Lichtenstein’s comments did not reflect the majority view in the group, and that a vote of no confidence in her had been tabled.
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vote → say → her
Speaking shortly before the byelection result was announced, Caroline Lucas, the Greens’ former leader and first MP, said Polanski “should have been there and he should have voted”.
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he → speak → ?
Speaking to Newsnight, she said: “I would have hoped that he would have really been a very strong critic of this motion, because the motion was flawed from top to bottom in my view.
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motion → speak → view
It’s dangerous, it’s divisive, it tries to have a singular definition of Zionism when we know that there are many.”
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we → ’ → Zionism
Asked if Polanski should stand down, Lucas did not definitively say he should remain as leader: “I think let’s just see what happens in the … coming days and weeks.”
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what → ask → days
However, they are re-
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they → re → ?
elected every two years, meaning Polanski, who took over in September 2025, will have to go before party members again in less than a year.
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who → elect → year
The Aporia
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