Key facts
- Labour is seeking to retain Keir Starmer's former north London seat.
- Zack Polanski is running for the Green party.
- Sagal Abdi-Wali is Labour's candidate.
- The Green party previously won a byelection in Gorton and Denton in February.
- Holborn and St Pancras has a large number of students, younger voters and renters.
Polls have closed in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, a contest seen as a test of Labour's ability to retain the seat and a measure of the political landscape under Andy Burnham. The byelection is a significant first electoral test for Burnham, who succeeded Keir Starmer in July, as part of a wider battle for younger leftwing voters.
Labour is seeking to retain Keir Starmer’s former north London seat, where he won a majority of more than 11,000 votes in the 2024 general election. The Green party is hoping to reproduce its byelection victory in Gorton and Denton in February, where it overturned a Labour majority. However, polling has shifted since then, with the latest YouGov survey putting Labour on 27% and the Greens 16 points behind.
Zack Polanski, the Green candidate, has argued that electing him would increase pressure on Labour to deliver more radical policies. He described the contest as "probably 50/50" and "really on a knife-edge," but insisted his leadership did not depend on victory. Labour's candidate, Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden council, has emphasised her local connections and experience in community work.
The campaign was overshadowed by a row within the Green party after members voted to adopt a policy equating Zionism with racism, despite opposition from four of the party's five MPs. Polanski, who is Jewish, left the conference early and did not participate in the vote.