Andy Burnham’s Labour Party won an election for the parliamentary seat vacated by former leader Keir Starmer on Friday (October 9, 2026), fending off a strong challenge from the left-wing Green Party in a boost for the British Prime Minister.
Pancras with 12,292 votes, compared with 8,928 for Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader. Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of the local council, won the by-election in the central London constituency of Holborn and St.
the governing party is seeking to shore up support among left-leaning voters who had turned to the Greens before a national vote due in mid-2029 While Labour’s main rival in national polls is currently the populist Reform Party. Labour had been widely expected to hold the seat, as Mr. Burnham seeks to repair his party’s damaged appeal among core voters in big cities after two bruising years in government under Mr. Starmer. The result will be a blow to Mr. Burnham came to power. “Throughout our campaign, we chose hope, and the people of Holborn and St. Pancras chose it with us. And now it’s time to deliver. Mr. Starmer was replaced as Prime Minister in July and stood down as a lawmaker in September after losing the support of his Labour Party over a series of missteps, U-turns and disastrous local election results in May.
Polanski, a 43-year-old former actor and hypnotherapist, who has promised to make his party “an eco-populist” movement and draw support away from Labour — a strategy that had been working until Mr. “We have a responsibility to defend what we’ve built and pass it on,” she said.
