Labour has won the by-election for the parliamentary seat of Holborn and St Pancras, left vacant by former leader Keir Starmer. The victory marks a pushback against the challenge from the left-wing Green Party and hands an advantage to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, currently leader of the local council, took 12,292 votes, compared with 8,928 for Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, who finished second. The result had been widely predicted, but it nonetheless strengthens the position of Prime Minister Burnham, who was recently installed by lawmakers amid fears that Starmer's unpopularity could pave the way for the populist Reform UK at the next general election.
After losing left-wing support to the Greens earlier this year, Labour appears to have won back many voters. The result raises further questions about the leadership credentials of Polanski, who had promised to turn his party into an "eco-populist" movement. The Greens now hold five seats, up from one in 2023.
However, Polanski, 43, has come under criticism after party members passed a motion at their annual conference declaring Zionism racist. The motion, which called for "the establishment of a single democratic Palestinian state across the whole of historic Palestine," was condemned by Jewish groups, other parties and most Green MPs. Polanski did not vote for the motion.
Labour has held the Holborn seat since the constituency was created in 1983. Abdi-Wali, who came to the UK as a child refugee from Somalia, said her victory was a defeat for "those who seek to divide us." She said: "We have a responsibility to protect what has been built and pass it on to the next generation."
After conceding defeat, Polanski, who is not an MP, hit back at the criticism, insisting he would remain party leader and describing the result as part of "Andy Burnham's honeymoon." He congratulated Abdi-Wali but noted: "A third of voters backed us here, and we know many others considered it."
Al Jazeera correspondent Sonia Gallego, reporting from London, said: "This constituency is experiencing what some are calling the 'Burnham effect'... so far, Labour has breathed a sigh of relief because it held the seat."
Israel's war in Gaza has shifted voter habits over the past three years. The Green Party, with a stance more critical of Israel than any other party, benefited in the 2024 general election. At that time, Starmer won this seat with 49 percent of the vote, while Andrew Feinstein, an independent pro-Palestine candidate, finished second with 19 percent. Feinstein remarked that Polanski had increased the "progressive vote" while "reducing the Labour vote."
