By-election date set for Labour showdown with Zack Polanski after Keir Starmer resigns seat

Thank you for subscribing!

Zack Polanski is facing a challenge from a Green Party rival who believes a 'global majority' candidate should contest the seat

Labour will face a crunch by-election test in Sir Keir Starmer's former seat of Holborn & St Pancras on October 8, it has been confirmed.

The ex-Prime Minister announced he would resign as the local MP just moments before the end of the summer recess, saying he felt it was the "right time" to step down and focus his work on international affairs.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has officially announced he is contesting the constituency, with the London Assembly Member standing in his first parliamentary seat since 2019.

He previously said he was "excited" by the prospect of winning the seat and entering Parliament.

While Mr Polanski is already out on the ground campaigning in the constituency, his candidacy is not yet fully finalised due to local party rules and internal divisions.

Local councillor Hamza Chowdhury, who has put himself forward for the Green nomination, argued that the constituency does not need “another MP who arrives during an election campaign, then disappears once the votes are counted".

Mr Chowdhury said a “global majority” candidate would be best placed to win the seat and represent the “extraordinary diversity of the communities" in the constituency.

The Camden councillor said: "We don’t need another MP who arrives during an election campaign, puts out a few leaflets, makes a few promises and disappears once the votes are counted. We need an MP who is present, accessible and visibly part of the community all year round."

Mr Chowdhury, who represents the Holborn and Covent Garden ward, said: “I’m not asking you to vote for a politician you’ll only see on a leaflet. I’m asking you to choose someone who is already here."

Mr Polanski announced last week that he hopes to contest the seat and secure the Green Party's sixth seat in the House of Commons.

Speaking to The Camden New Journal, Mr Polanski said: "I have lived and worked in this community over many years, I know it well and I love it.

"It represents so many of the things that make London so special. I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in Parliament.”

However, Green Party rules stipulate that candidates must be democratically chosen by local members.

The constituency of Holborn & St Pancras spans major central London transit hubs and cultural hubs, including King's Cross, St Pancras, Covent Garden, Bloomsbury, Camden Town, Highgate, and Kentish Town.

The Greens are likely to pose the greatest threat to Labour in the by-election, which has held the inner London constituency continuously since the seat was created in 1983, winning at least 40 per cent of the vote at every election.

Labour is expected to select its official candidate on Wednesday as Andy Burnham looks to retain the seat on October 8.

Meanwhile, Nigel Farage confirmed to GB News that Reform UK would field a candidate in the north London constituency.

Professor Sir John Curtice has told GB News that Labour is currently the "favourite" to win following Sir Keir Starmer's resignation.

Speaking to the People's Channel, Sir John said: "I'd give the Greens a chance, but not as big a chance as I would have given them two months ago. Now it's a little complicated, there's a lot of estimates out there about the gap between Labour and the Greens.

"In the local elections on May 7, the Greens were about 10 points behind, but actually there were a couple of wards in the constituency which the Greens didn't fight. They left it to something called the Camden People's Alliance. We put those two together, the gap looks more like four points.

"Downside for the Greens, however, is that their poll numbers have weakened since May 7, and Labour's are basically profiting from the Burnham bounce. So I think undoubtedly therefore Labour go into this by-election not in a position where they can be overconfident, but certainly as the favourites."

Only two Labour MPs have ever represented Holborn and St Pancras: former Health Secretary Frank Dobson, from 1983 to 2015, and then Sir Keir.

At the most recent general election in 2024, Sir Keir held the seat with 48.9 per cent of the vote, ahead of independent candidate Andrew Feinstein in second place on 18.9 per cent and the Greens in third on 10.4 per cent.

The Conservatives came fourth on 7.2 per cent, Reform finished fifth on 6.1 per cent, and the Liberal Democrats were sixth on 5.8 per cent.

The Green Party also made gains in the May local elections in the London Borough of Camden, the local authority which covers the constituency.

Deputy leader of the Labour Party Lucy Powell said her party has "hit the ground running" in its campaigning in Holborn and St Pancras.

She said: "It’s clear that Andy Burnham’s message of hope is really cutting through.”

Ms Powell added: "While others talk, Labour is delivering the progressive change people in Holborn and St Pancras want to see.

"We’ve taken early action to give people vital breathing space on the cost of living, and we’re taking on the long-term challenges people really care about, like ending rough sleeping, tackling youth unemployment and making sure we finally fix our social care system."