Zack Polanski named Green candidate for Starmer’s London seatMr Polanski had faced a challenge from local councillor Hamza Chowdhury to secure the nomination.Green Party leader Zack Polanski will contest the Holborn and St Pancras byelection (Jonathan Brady/PA)PA WireHelen Corbett5 minutes ago
The Greens have picked party leader Zack Polanski as their candidate to challenge Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras seat vacated by Sir Keir Starmer.
Green Party MP Hannah Spencer, who won the by-election in Gorton and Denton earlier this year, declared him the candidate at an event in London, saying local party members “overwhelmingly” chose London Assembly member Mr Polanski.
Mr Polanski had faced a challenge from local councillor Hamza Chowdhury to secure the nomination.
The Green leader said he was confident “but not complacent” about his chances and that he thought voters would “struggle to get excited about another Labour MP”.
The by-election could provide an early test of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s popularity with the public.
The Greens are likely to pose the greatest threat to Labour in the contest, but there is also much at stake for Mr Polanski’s party.
Support for the Greens surged in his first year as leader but the party’s national polling has dipped since Mr Burnham replaced Sir Keir in Downing Street.
Speaking afterwards to the Press Association, he dismissed weaker polling and said if he had been told a year ago of where the Greens were now, “I would have bitten your hand off”.
He suggested the new prime minister’s “hand-waving” on what action to take over failing water companies could harm Labour’s chances.
“What we’re finding on the doorsteps in Holborn and St Pancras is people really care about the kind of issues I’m talking about: housing costs, making sure that we’re standing up for renters or standing up for leaseholders, making sure we’re nationalising Thames Water.
“People won’t put up with Andy Burnham’s kind of hand-waving around public control. What we need is full public ownership.”
He also pointed to the uncertainty over the Jackdaw gas field off the coast of Aberdeen, which reports have suggested the Government is set to approve.
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“This is a constituency that cares even more than the average about tackling the climate crisis and the fact that this prime minister could be announcing new drilling for oil and gas in Jackdaw during this election, or delaying it until after the election if he doesn’t refuse to rule it out, that’s really outraging people.”
He said he believed people would see that voting Green would be a message that they do not want “another Labour MP in this area, that will just add to Andy Burnham’s huge majority”, but instead a “Green voice who will speak for the people of Holborn and St Pancras and hold the government to account in constructive ways.”
Mr Polanski will take on Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali at the October 8 contest, triggered by former prime minister Sir Keir’s departure from Parliament.
Labour has held the Holborn and St Pancras seat continuously since it was created in 1983, but voters there have moved towards Green and independent candidates in recent years.
Hamza Chowdhury at King’s Place in London, during the result of the Green Party candidate selection for the Holborn and St Pancras by-election (James Manning/PA)PA Wire
Ms Abdi-Wali, who has led Camden Council since May this year and been a councillor for Camden Square since 2022, will seek to retain the seat for Labour.Mr Burnham visited the constituency on Thursday to support Ms Abdi-Wali on her first day of campaigning, she said in an X post.
Only two Labour MPs have ever represented Holborn and St Pancras: former health secretary Frank Dobson, from 1983 to 2015, then Sir Keir.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (left) shakes hands with opponents after he was declared winner of the Holborn and St Pancras constituency in the 2024 general election (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA Wire
At the most recent general election in 2024, Sir Keir held the seat with 48.9% of the vote, ahead of independent candidate Andrew Feinstein in second place on 18.9% and the Greens in third on 10.4%.
The Conservatives came fourth on 7.2%, Reform finished fifth on 6.1% and the Liberal Democrats were sixth on 5.8%.
The popularity of the independent and Green candidates at the 2024 contest, finishing second and third respectively, may have been partly down to former Labour voters protesting against Sir Keir’s refusal to take a stronger position on Israel’s actions in Gaza in the war with Hamas.
The Green Party also made gains in the May local elections in the London Borough of Camden, the local authority that covers the constituency.
Government chief whip Anneliese Midgley moved the writ in the House of Commons on Monday, officially triggering the by-election.
Sir Keir revealed his plans to leave Parliament earlier this month, saying he felt it was the “right time” to step down and focus on new work on international affairs.
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