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Zack Polanski confirms he intends to stand as Green candidate in Holborn and St Pancras by-election
With Keir Starmer as their candidate, Labour won the seat with a majority of 11,572 at the 2024 general election.
Green Party leader Zack Polanski has said he intends to stand in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, triggered by Sir Keir Starmer’s exit from Parliament.
Polanski told the local Camden New Journal that he plans to contest the seat and win a place in Parliament.
“I have lived and worked in this community over many years; I know it well, and I love it,” he said in an interview.
“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.”
With Starmer as their candidate, Labour won the seat with a majority of 11,572 at the 2024 general election.
The former PM gained 18,884 votes, with the Greens trailing in third place with 4,030. The bigger challenge came from Andrew Feinstein, the independent candidate who was accused of weaponising anger over Israel and the Gaza war throughout his campaign.
By indicating he wants to stand now, Polanski appears to have reached a deal with Feinstein not to split the vote in the forthcoming by-election.
Former prime minister Sir Keir announced he would quit as an MP on Tuesday, as Parliament returned from its summer recess, despite having previously insisted he would stay on as a backbencher until the next general election.
He was soon after appointed to the position of “steward and bailiff of the Three Hundreds of Chiltern”, as part of an archaic formal process which allows an MP to resign.
Polanski also told the Camden New Journal that the constituency had “been held back by governments who have failed to make the changes to improve people’s lives”.
He added: “We know that the Greens can win here, and by electing me, voters will have someone who will always fight their corner – never scared of big donors or the party whip.
“Too often Labour has stood up for corporations and big money. I will stand up for people struggling to pay their bills.”
The Greens are likely to pose the greatest threat in the by-election to Labour, which has held the inner London constituency continuously since the seat was created in 1983, winning at least 40% of the vote at every election.
Only two Labour MPs have ever represented Holborn and St Pancras: former health secretary Frank Dobson, from 1983 to 2015, and then Sir Keir.
The Green Party also made gains in the May local elections in the London Borough of Camden, the local authority which covers the constituency.
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