Labour retains Holborn and St Pancras as Sagal Abdi-Wali defeats Green leader by 3,300 votes

Labour has retained the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary seat in central London after a closely watched by-election that had been seen as an early test of support for the party. Sagal Abdi-Wali won the contest, defeating Green Party leader Zack Polanski by about 3,300 votes. The result keeps the seat in Labour hands, where it has been held since the constituency was created in 1983.

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Abdi-Wali won 12,292 votes, compared with 8,928 for Polanski, according to the supplied reporting. The seat had been vacated by former Labour leader Keir Starmer, and the contest was framed as a measure of whether Labour could hold on to left-leaning voters in a part of London where the Greens have been making gains. Polanski, who is not an MP, conceded defeat and said he would remain as party leader.

The result is being read as a boost for Labour leadership at a time when the party has faced pressure from both the Greens and Reform UK. The supplied reporting says Labour had lost some left-wing support earlier in the year, while Green advances in London had contributed to weaker local election results. Abdi-Wali, who arrived in the UK as a child refugee from Somalia, said her victory was a defeat for those who seek to divide people.

The by-election also carries wider political significance because it comes amid debate over Labour's direction and its appeal to urban voters. The supplied material says the contest was watched closely after a change at the top of the party, with Andy Burnham now leading Labour and seeking to present a more left-wing vision. The Green Party, meanwhile, has been trying to build on recent gains and present itself as an eco-populist alternative.

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Holborn and St Pancras has long been a Labour stronghold, but the size of the Green vote suggests the party remains competitive in parts of inner London. The supplied reporting also notes that the Greens now have five MPs, compared with one in 2023, underlining their growing parliamentary presence. That makes the result relevant beyond one constituency, as both parties look ahead to the next national election.

What remains unclear is whether Labour's margin will be enough to ease concerns about its support among progressive voters, or whether the Greens will treat the result as evidence of further room to grow. The next focus will be how both parties interpret the vote in the context of wider national politics and future contests in London. The result is likely to shape their messaging in the months ahead.

Voting is under way in London's Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary seat in a by-election that is being watched as an early test of Labour support. The contest is centred on whether the party can hold a seat it has controlled continuously since 1983. It is also being framed as a serious challenge from the Green Party in one of the capital's most closely followed local races.

The by-election was triggered by the resignation of former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, according to the supplied reporting. Labour's candidate is Sagal Abdi-Wali, a local council leader who arrived in Britain as a child refugee from Somalia in the 1990s. The Greens are represented by their leader, Zack Polanski, who is among the candidates seeking the seat.

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The race is being described as a two-horse contest between Labour and the Greens, with thousands of activists from both parties reported to have campaigned in recent weeks. Polls are due to close at 10pm local time, with the result expected in the early hours of Friday. The other candidates include representatives from the Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, UKIP, the Communist League and several smaller parties and independents.

The vote matters because it is being read as a measure of whether Labour can recover support among left-leaning voters. The supplied reporting says the party's popularity among those voters fell sharply over the war in Gaza, while Green gains in London contributed to poor Labour local election results in May. The by-election therefore carries significance beyond one constituency, because it may indicate whether Labour can slow the Greens' momentum in urban areas.

The contest also comes after a period of change at the top of Labour, with the supplied material saying Starmer's resignation on July 20 led to his replacement by Andy Burnham. The reporting says Burnham has since taken a tougher position on Israel and is seeking to present a more left-wing vision for the UK. In that context, the Holborn and St Pancras vote is being treated as a test of whether that repositioning can persuade voters who have drifted away from Labour.

What remains unclear until the count is how large the Green challenge will be and whether Labour can retain the seat with a comfortable margin. The result is expected overnight, and it will be watched for what it suggests about voter sentiment in London and among left-leaning electors more broadly. The outcome may also shape how both parties approach future contests in the capital.

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