Labour sees off Green challenge to win Holborn by-election

Labour has won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, seeing off a challenge from Green Party leader Zack Polanski.

Camden council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali held the north London seat for Labour but the party's majority was reduced from 11,572 to 3,364.

Polanski insisted he would stay on as leader despite the result.

He has also come under pressure over his response to a motion passed by members declaring Zionism a form of racism.

Labour's Abdi-Wali secured 45% of the vote, followed by Polanski on 33%.

However, the Green Party's vote share was up by 22% on the 2024 general election.

Ewan Cameron of the Conservatives came a distant third with 1,922 votes (7%), followed by Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats.

The inner London constituency has been Labour since it was created in 1983, with the party taking at least 40% of the vote at every general election.

In her victory speech at the count in Camden, Abdi-Wali, who came to the UK as a child refugee from Somalia, said her victory was a testament to the success of diversity in the borough.

"Whether you voted for me or not my commitment to this community runs deep," she said.

"I hope this moment also says something about who gets to belong, for people who look like me, I hope they see themselves reflected in this place and know that their path too belongs here. This is Camden, and this is Britain."

She added: "That is what this victory represents. Winning not by making people afraid of each other, but by bringing people together."