Former refugee gives ‘This is Britain’ speech after defeating Greens' Zack Polanski in London byelection

The UK’s ruling Labour party saw off the challenge from <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/05/labour-and-green-party-push-for-camden-muslim-voter-support-ahead-of-by-election/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/10/05/labour-and-green-party-push-for-camden-muslim-voter-support-ahead-of-by-election/">Green Party leader Zack Polanski</a> in a by-election caused by former prime minister Keir Starmer's resignation as an MP. Labour’s candidate, local council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali, delivered a powerful victory speech about diversity in Britain. She arrived in the country as a child refugee from Somalia and said she hoped the result of the vote would help people like her to feel like they also “belong here”. Labour’s decision to choose a British Somalian had been criticised by Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf. The final days of campaigning were also overshadowed by the Green Party conference, at which a motion was passed declaring “Zionism is racism”. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/05/06/zack-polanskis-greens-face-anti-semitism-accusations-on-eve-of-uk-elections/" target="_blank" rel="" title="https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/uk/2026/05/06/zack-polanskis-greens-face-anti-semitism-accusations-on-eve-of-uk-elections/">Mr Polanski</a>, who increased the party’s share of the vote, has been accused of failing to show leadership over the ”dangerous” and “divisive” motion by not taking part in the debate. He was pressed about the motion in media interviews after the result and refused to say directly whether he supported the right for Israel to exist. “I believe everyone deserves a safe home,” Mr Polanski, who is Jewish, told the BBC. “I believe Israelis and Palestinians should have equal rights in a democracy. I don't believe that any state has a right to oppress or to commit apartheid and certainly not genocide.” The failure to win a seat in the House of Commons represents a major setback for his party. Mr Polanski said he intended to stay on as leader. While he has been credited with tripling the Greens’ membership to more than 200,000 people since he became leader about a year ago, his popularity ratings have dipped in recent months. "Yes, I've taken a loss tonight but our movement is so much bigger than one election or one motion," he said. Ms Abdi-Wali received 45 per cent of the vote in Holborn and St Pancras, ahead of Mr Polanski, who came in second with almost 33 per cent. The seat was vacated by Mr Starmer after he was replaced as the country's leader by Andy Burnham, in part because Labour MPs hoped he could do a better job countering the Greens. In her acceptance speech, Ms Abdi-Wali praised Mr Starmer and said she wanted to work with Mr Burnham on issues such as housing. “This moment means something deeply personal to me – to represent the place that gave me a home, and my family a home, gave me opportunity and helped shape the person I am today,” she said. While in its northern reaches, Holborn and St Pancras contains some of the most affluent parts of London, several of its neighbourhoods are included among the most income-deprived in England. “I hope this moment also says something about who gets to belong, for people who look like me," Ms Abdi-Wali added. "I hope they see themselves reflected in this place and know that their path too belongs here. This is Camden, and this is Britain. “We have a responsibility to defend what we’ve built, and pass it on. Hope is not naive. Without hope there is nothing to build on, and nothing to build for. People need to believe that politics can make their lives better and that their communities can thrive and that tomorrow can be better than today.” In a message issued before the vote, Mr Burnham said: “This area gave Sagal a home when she arrived here as a refugee in the 1990s. Camden gave Sagal and her family hope. Now she wants to give that back to the communities that have always been there for her. It’s hard to think of someone more committed to their local area and the care of people than Sagal.” Labour had been expected to win, having occupied the seat since its 1983 inception, and party strategists are likely to take the result as a sign Mr Burnham is re-energising the progressive voter base that splintered under Mr Starmer. Mr Polanski, a former actor and hypnotherapist, had tried to persuade the liberal constituency’s voters that they would be better served by electing the leader of a party who could push Mr Burnham further to the left, instead of giving Labour another backbencher to boost its majority in the 650-seat House of Commons. Mr Polanski currently serves as a member of the London Assembly and was looking to transition to the Parliament in Westminster, where his party is represented by a contingent of five MPs. He said that he was disappointed not to ​win the seat but that the party would continue to grow despite the setback. "No politician runs in a by-election and doesn't want to win," he added. "But at the same time, to see the growth in what was supposedly a safe Labour seat … is now a marginal Labour seat. That's clearly growth, and next time we can get it over the line.” He told broadcasters that "so many people told me on the doorstep that they want to give Andy Burnham a chance ... let's see what he does with it". Labour’s nationwide popularity had slipped since Mr Starmer led it to a majority in 2024, but polling shows the party is enjoying a bounce under Mr Burnham. The by-election is the first to be held since he became the UK leader in July. He has refocused his party on an unabashedly left-wing agenda that prioritises public ownership. He has proposed trimming rises in the state pension to fund a care service for the elderly that operates along the same principles as health care, which in the UK is free at the point of use. Missing out on a seat in the House of Commons will be a blow for the Greens, even while officials managing expectations in advance of the vote pointed out that Nigel Farage, leader of right-wing Reform, stood unsuccessfully in seven parliamentary elections before gaining a seat. “Any ideas of a return to the cosy two-party system is just wishful thinking on the part of the establishment,” the Green Party said in a statement after the result.