Counting under way in Holborn and St Pancras byelection in London
Votes are being counted in a byelection in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency in north London to choose an MP to replace former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. The result is expected between 2:30 and 4am UK time.
Counting has begun in a parliamentary byelection in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency in north London, after polls closed on Thursday. Voters are choosing a new MP to replace former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer. He announced in September that he would leave the House of Commons, after Andy Burnham had ousted him from No 10. Camden council has said the result is expected between 2:30 and 4am UK time.
The candidates
Fifteen candidates are standing. Labour's candidate is Sagal Abdi-Wali, and the Green party is represented by its leader, Zack Polanski. Ewan Cameron stands for the Conservatives, Peter Newman for Reform UK and Patrick Thomas Stillman for the Liberal Democrats. George Galloway is running for the Workers party, alongside candidates from several smaller parties and an independent.
Political background
The seat is normally a Labour stronghold. Starmer won it at the 2024 general election with a majority of 11,500, despite strong challenges from the Greens and a leftwing independent. That independent is not standing again and has endorsed Polanski. In 2019, Starmer's majority was nearly 28,000.
Polanski has run an energetic campaign and mobilised many supporters to knock on doors. This mirrors the Greens' approach in February's Gorton and Denton byelection, where they overcame an even bigger Labour majority and took the seat.
The national picture has since shifted. A YouGov poll briefly put the Greens above Labour, at a peak of 21%. The latest equivalent poll has them on 11%, 16 points behind Labour. Burnham, who succeeded Starmer as prime minister in July, is seen as having revitalised Labour. At the Green party conference last weekend, members voted to adopt a policy equating Zionism with racism and calling for Israel to be replaced by a single Palestinian state. The vote prompted condemnation and splits in the party.
