Zack Polanski confirmed as Green by-election candidate in bid to flip Keir Starmer's seat

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The Chair of the London Green Party has said Labour cannot take the capital "for granted" after Zack Polanski was chosen as the party's candidate

Zack Polanski has been confirmed as the Green Party's candidate for the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras by-election in a major test for Andy Burnham.

The Green Party leader will run in the seat left vacant by Sir Keir Starmer after the former Prime Minister announced he would be resigning as an MP.

Mr Polanski is the second candidate to be declared after Labour confirmed local councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali would be on the ballot for Mr Burnham's party in the north London seat.

Green Party MP for Gorton and Denton Hannah Spencer said local party members "overwhelmingly" chose London Assembly member Mr Polanski over local councillor Hamza Chowdhury for the nomination.

She said Mr Polanski was "someone who always speaks up for people, someone who is not afraid of the constant attempt to undermine him or tear him down, someone sensitive, someone who does everything always with the very best of intentions, someone who is just like the rest of us, human".

Mr Polanski said: "The Greens might be the underdog in this election, but we have the momentum, and we can win.

"It’s clear everyone knows it’s the Green Party against Labour, and before May we had one councillor here, and now we have 10.

"Last weekend we had so many people on the streets that we delivered leaflets to the entire constituency in just a few hours."

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.

Eugene McCarthy told GB News: "It's great to see a strong candidate selected for Holborn and St Pancras."

Mr McCarthy: "This race is not a given for the Greens: we'll be fighting for every vote. We are fighting for genuinely transformative change to get the economy working for ordinary people again, not the tinkering round the edges that Labour are promising.

"Camden voters have the chance to send the Labour government a message that they cannot take London for granted, and that next month's budget must deliver for the working class."

Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council, is Labour’s pick to replace Sir Keir Starmer as the MP in the London constituency.

Ms Abdi-Wali, who was born in Somalia and came to the UK with her family as a refugee, has spent more than a decade working with communities in Camden.

Labour will be hoping to retain the seat and build on its previous support in the constituency, which has returned Labour MPs at every general election since its creation in 1983.

The contest is expected to be one of the first major electoral tests for Mr Burnham’s Labour Government, with the party seeking to hold a seat which Mr Starmer won with a majority of 11,572 at the 2024 general election.