Holborn and St Pancras by election results live: Zack Polanski beaten by Labour

Jump to content Sections UK Edition Subscribe now Log in Login icon Follow us on: More from The Telegraph Join the conversation (2505) !Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, was unable to overturn a significant Labour majority Credit: Shutterstock/James Veysey Dominic Penna Senior Political Correspondent. Genevieve Holl-Allen Political Correspondent. Pieter Snepvangers Political Reporter. Kelly-Anne Taylor Last updated 09 October 2026 1:19pm BST Save This feature is available for registered users. Please register or log in to continue RegisterLog in Share article Log in or Subscribe Copy link Add us as preferred source Add us as preferred source Copy link Zack Polanski is under pressure to resign after his defeat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Vivien Lichtenstein, the head of the Jewish Greens, said the Green Party leader should quit after he lost to Sagal Abdi-Wali, the Labour candidate, by 3,364 votes in Sir Keir Starmer’s former constituency. Support for the Greens was 32.7 per cent in the north London seat, compared with Labour’s 45 per cent of votes. The Conservatives were a distant third on 7.1 per cent, with Reform UK coming in fourth place on 5.9 per cent. Mr Polanski’s campaign was overshadowed by an anti-Semitism row after members used the party conference in Brighton to back a motion defining Zionism as racism. Asked whether he should stay on as party leader, Ms Lichtenstein told Times Radio: “No, I think he should resign.” She said it was a “big mistake” that the Greens’ leader did not intervene in a debate about the anti-Zionist motion, and said senior party figures were wrong to claim that Mr Polanski had worked with Jewish members ahead of the vote. “I don’t know which Jewish members of the party he’s been working with – it certainly hasn’t been with the Jewish Greens’ committee,” Ms Lichtenstein added. On Friday, Mr Polanski finally said he would have voted against the motion, adding that he opposed its demand for a one-state solution but agreed with its “substance”. Jonathan Bartley, a former Greens leader, condemned the “toxicity of the Green Party brand” in recent months under Mr Polanski’s leadership. “Allegations of anti-Semitism against candidates during the local elections in May, the string of stories against Zack and now the ‘Zionism is racism’ motion are clearly having an impact,” said Mr Bartley, who co-led the party between 2016 and 2021. “At a time when people vote against what they don’t like as much as for what they believe in, it would not be surprising if people voted tactically to keep the Greens out,” he added. Mr Polanski has vowed to fight on in the wake of his defeat, saying he is “more than ready to continue” as party leader. Full story: Labour claims by-election victory Tom Harris: Zack Polanski is probably finished Latest updates Dominic Penna Senior Political Correspondent. Genevieve Holl-Allen Political Correspondent. Pieter Snepvangers Political Reporter. Kelly-Anne Taylor 12:52PM That’s all for today… Link copied to clipboard Thank you for following The Telegraph’s live coverage of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Here is a summary of the main developments: Labour has won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, with Sagal Abdi-Wali defeating Green Party leader Zack Polanski. Mr Polanski vowed to stay on as party leader despite the loss, as the party said the result showed a “huge swing in one of Labour’s safest seats”. The Green Party leader said he would have voted against the “Zionism is Racism” motion at the party conference last week as it had not been amended as he had wished. He did not vote on the motion and instead was out campaigning in Holborn and St Pancras. He suggested that he would seek to amend the controversial motion “at the earliest possible opportunity”. Caroline Lucas, the former Green leader, said the Greens were “woefully exposed” to entryism because of their internal structures and urged for reform. Jonathan Bartley, another former leader, said the Greens needed to do some “serious soul-searching” after the defeat. Vivien Lichtenstein, the head of the Jewish Greens, said the Green Party leader should quit. Read the full story of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election here 12:06PM Sian Berry: I should have persuaded Green leaders to speak against Zionism is Racism motion Link copied to clipboard A Green Party MP has said she regrets not having “worked harder” to persuade leading figures in the party to condemn the Zionism is Racism motion. Sian Berry, who represents Bighton Pavilion, voted against the motion at the party’s annual conference last week and spoke out against it on the eve of the vote. Ms Berry, a former party leader, said on Bluesky: “I should have worked harder to persuade more of our leading figures to speak up in a unified way to say the motion as written was clearly not reflective of our values and policy principles”. She added that “the clash of conference with an exciting and by-election campaign meant many of us were persuaded not to campaign publicly” against the motion. She added that she would “fix the serious flaws in the motion as passed” and “restore key policies aimed at peace-building”. 11:55AM Polanski likes social media posts attacking journalists Link copied to clipboard You would have thought that Zack Polanski might have gone to bed after his by-election defeat. Instead, he’s spent the morning scrolling through Bluesky licking his wounds by liking posts which criticise journalists who interviewed him this morning. The Green leader appeared on Sky News and BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier this morning in the wake of his defeat in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Mr Polanski liked one post which praised how well he handled questions from Sky’s Sam Coates. It said: “Given the fact [Polanski] has had no sleep, he dealt with those questions that Sam [Coates] did posing them. Sam [Coates] let himself down.” He liked a separate post which claimed they had “to switch off Nick Robinson’s interview with Zack Polanski on Radio 4”. It added: “That style of interviewing involving constant heckling feels great if you’re the interviewer. But it sounds old hat to the listener, who is now schooled in more measured podcasts. Robinson should know this.” Mr Polanski also liked a post accusing Mr Robinson of “attempting to embarrass him” after he was repeatedly questioned about whether he believed Israel has the right to exist. 11:39AM The Green voters who were horrified by Zack Polanski Link copied to clipboard “No Green Party bull---- please!” said the sign on a teal-coloured door halfway up the street. On a picturesque period terraced road in Kentish Town, north London, the sentiment was by no means confined to just one household. There and elsewhere in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, where Green Party leader Zack Polanski failed to get elected to Parliament on Thursday, others shared that disgust. Left-leaning voters, who might otherwise have been persuaded by the Greens. Not now, they said; not this version of the party. Rosa Silverman: How Polanski torpedoed his chances 11:16AM Polanski looks to amend ‘Zionism is racism’ motion Link copied to clipboard Zack Polanski has said he will seek to amend the Greens’ controversial “Zionism is racism” motion. The Green leader told the BBC: “At the earliest possible opportunity, I do want at a conference motion to see us go back to a process where Israelis and Palestinians decide the future of our region. “Now that’s up to members because we’re a grassroots party. On the substance of the motion though we talked about the displacement of the Palestinian people... that’s clearly a racist ideology.” At the moment, the motion backs a single Palestinian state at the expense of a two-state solution. 10:56AM ‘We have some serious soul-searching to do’ Link copied to clipboard A former leader of the Greens has said that his party needs to do some “serious soul-searching” after its Holborn and St Pancras by-election defeat. Jonathan Bartley, who co-led the party between 2016 and 2021, told PoliticsHome that there had been a rise in “the toxicity of the Green Party brand” in recent months under Mr Polanski. “Allegations of anti-Semitism against candidates during the local elections in May, the string of stories against Zack and now the ‘Zionism is racism’ motion are clearly having an impact,” he said. Mr Bartley added: “At a time where people vote against what they don’t like as much as for what they believe in, it would not be surprising if people voted tactically to keep the Greens out.” 10:33AM Caroline Lucas: Greens now ‘woefully exposed’ to entryism Link copied to clipboard The Green Party is “woefully exposed” to entryism, Caroline Lucas has said. The former Green leader said the controversial “Zionism is Racism” motion that passed last week showed the “vulnerability” of the party’s internal structures, where just 1,022 “self-selected” members created a new policy. Writing for the New Statesman, Ms Lucas said: “Entryism has been a problem for many parties, but with our commitment to direct democracy and our cumbersome internal accountability mechanisms, the Greens are woefully exposed.” The number of people who voted in favour of the motion at the annual party conference represented just 0.5 per cent of the membership. 10:18AM ‘Polanski has dragged Labour to a weird and dark place’ Link copied to clipboard Labour MPs have attacked the Greens over their stance on Zionism in the wake of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Luke Akehurst, a prominent backbencher on Labour’s moderate wing, said: “Voters in Holborn and St Pancras decisively rejected the Greens, not least following their disgraceful ‘Zionism is racism’ motion. “Political stances that breach the IHRA [International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance] definition of anti-Semitism are as toxic and damaging to their proponents now as they were in the Corbyn era.” David Taylor, a member of the 2024 intake, added: “Voters have rejected the Green Party’s dangerous politics of hate and division. Everyday people are fed up with the far-Left’s anti-Semitism and anti-Western obsession. “Zack Polanski and his deputy leaders have dragged the Green Party to a weird and dark place, much like Jeremy Corbyn did to the Labour Party. Their extreme dogma has thankfully left them on the fringes, where they must remain for the good of our country.” 9:51AM Abdi-Wali will ‘deliver progressive change’, says Labour deputy leader Link copied to clipboard The deputy Labour leader has said Sagal Abdi-Wali, the party’s newest MP, will deliver “the change that people are crying out for”. Speaking at a victory rally in north London, Lucy Powell told Labour activists: “How pleased are we this morning? We are so delighted to have Sagal as our newest Labour MP. She is going to absolutely smash this, and I think you’re the first woman MP for Holborn and St Pancras as well. “And having campaigned alongside you, Sagal, I know that you are just going to absolutely smash it from day one. I am really looking forward to working with you. “The good people of Holborn and St Pancras have chosen hope over fear, and they’ve chosen for someone to deliver progressive change, the kind of change that people are crying out for in this country which you have been championing, Sagal.” !Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour leader, introducing the party's new MP at a press conference in London Lucy Powell, the deputy Labour leader, introducing the party’s new MP at a press conference in London Credit: Getty Images/Dan Kitwood 9:29AM Burnham: Holborn and St Pancras has ‘voted for hope’ Link copied to clipboard Andy Burnham has congratulated his newest MP on her victory at the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. The Prime Minister said that Sir Keir Starmer’s former constituency had “voted for hope” under the party’s fresh leadership: > Yesterday, Holborn and St Pancras voted for hope. Congratulations @Sagal_AW and the whole team on a fantastic campaign. Looking forward to working together! > — Andy Burnham (@andyburnham) 9:23AM Jewish Greens: Polanski made ‘big mistake’ on Zionism motion Link copied to clipboard Zack Polanski made a “big mistake” by not intervening in the “Zionism is racism” debate at the Green Party conference, the chairman of the Jewish Greens has said. Vivien Lichtenstein said that senior Green Party figures were “wrong” to claim that Mr Polanski had worked with Jewish members of the party ahead of the motion. Ms Lichtenstein told Times Radio: “I don’t know which Jewish members of the party he’s been working with, it certainly hasn’t been with the Jewish Greens committee.” On Sunday, some 1,022 Green members voted in favour of adopting a motion that claimed Zionism was a form of racism. The proposal also rejected a two-state solution, instead supporting a single Palestinian state. A total of 813 Green members voted against the motion. Mr Polanski skipped the ballot to campaign in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, which he went on to lose yesterday. 9:17AM Starmer breaks his silence to congratulate Labour victor Link copied to clipboard Sir Keir Starmer has broken his five-week silence to congratulate his Labour successor in Holborn and St Pancras. The former prime minister last spoke publicly on Sept 1 to announce his resignation from the seat, but has now paid tribute to Sagal Abdi-Wali after she held the constituency for their party: > Brilliant result. Congratulations to my friend @Sagal_AW, I know you are a brilliant champion for our communities and will be a fantastic MP. > — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) Ms Abdi-Wali, who has been in charge of Camden council since May, is a close ally and staunch supporter of Sir Keir. 9:08AM Full story: Labour defeats Polanski in Holborn and St Pancras Link copied to clipboard The Labour Party has held onto Holborn and St Pancras in a by-election boost for Andy Burnham’s premiership. Sagal Abdi-Wali, the Labour candidate, beat Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader, by 3,364 votes in Sir Keir Starmer’s former constituency. After the defeat, Mr Polanski insisted he would not resign as leader, saying the contest had been “an opportunity to present Green Party values”. He is under mounting internal pressure over his leadership after the Greens lost ground in the polls and activists backed a motion at the annual party conference declaring “Zionism is racism”. You can read our full report here 8:46AM Polanski fails five times to say Israeli state should exist Link copied to clipboard Zack Polanski has refused five times to say that Israel has the right to exist. Challenged by the BBC’s Nick Robinson on whether he accepted Israeli statehood, Mr Polanski told the Today programme: “I believe everyone deserves a safe home.” Asked a second time, he said: “This motion was co-proposed by a Holocaust survivor.” When pressed again, Mr Polanski replied: “I believe Israelis and Palestinians should have equal rights in a democracy.” Told that he could give a “very simple answer”, Mr Polanski said: “I don’t believe any state has the right to oppress or to commit apartheid and certainly not genocide on another