Labour holds Holborn and St Pancras as Greens take close to a third of the vote
Labour held Holborn and St Pancras on 45% under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, with the Greens close to 33%, but turnout fell to 38.6% and one by-election is not a national verdict.
Key points
- Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election with 45%, down from 49% in 2024, according to the BBC.
- The Greens took close to 33%, up from 10% at the 2024 general election, their second-best Westminster by-election result.
- Turnout was 38.6%, against 54% at the 2024 general election.
- The sources contain no national poll showing the Greens at 11%, so this story does not report one.
The Holborn and St Pancras by-election ended in a clear Labour win, but not in a collapse of Green support. Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali won the seat on Thursday with 45% of the vote, according to the BBC. The Greens, whose leader Zack Polanski stood as their candidate, took close to 33%.
The sources for this story are one by-election result and a set of local ward results from Havering. Both are real votes, but neither is a national poll, and neither says anything on its own about national support for the parties.
The Labour result in Holborn and St Pancras: the headline numbers
The BBC reported that the result was announced just after 03:00 BST on Friday at Camden’s office complex in King’s Cross. Abdi-Wali, the Camden Council leader, told BBC London that voters were “looking for hope”. She said that across the four-week campaign, “the message was very much the same from people on the streets”.
Polanski told journalists after the count that “no-one runs an election to lose”, but said voters wanted to give the new prime minister “a chance”. Asked about his future, he said he could “of course” carry on as Green leader. The BBC noted that the final days of the Green campaign were dominated by the fallout from a party conference vote to approve a motion that “Zionism is racism”.
How the seat compares with 2024
The table below sets the by-election against the 2024 general election in the same seat, using the figures the BBC reported. The 2024 Green figure is the BBC’s statement that the party won 10%, and the by-election figures are rounded as the BBC gave them.
| Measure | 2024 general election | By-election | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Labour share | 49% | 45% | Down 4 points |
| Green share | 10% | Close to 33% | Up about 23 points |
| Turnout | 54% | 38.6% | Down 15.4 points |
Put simply, Labour’s lead over the Greens was about 12 points (45% minus close to 33%). In 2024 the second-placed candidate was an independent on nearly 19%, so the Greens’ rise is a gain on their own showing rather than on the previous runner-up. The BBC described 33% as the Greens’ second-best result at a Westminster by-election.
What is behind the Green Party support shift
The BBC pointed to a change at the top of Labour. It said the decisive win would be welcome news for Prime Minister Andy Burnham, and contrasted it with Labour’s poor performance under Sir Keir Starmer in May’s council elections, when the party lost control of six London boroughs to the Greens. Polanski himself tacitly acknowledged the change, saying: “So many people told me on the doorstep they want to give Andy Burnham a chance.”
The wider picture is mixed. In the Havering results published by the council, in the wards shown, Reform UK won all three seats in Gooshays and both in Emerson Park, while residents associations won in Cranham and Elm Park. Labour took both Beam Park seats, with 488 and 473 votes. The Greens’ best showing among those wards was 704 votes in Elm Park, where Reform UK’s highest-polling candidate received 2,067. The Havering extract does not show a Green collapse or a Green surge, and it gives no national share.
What it means for readers
For households, the practical content lies in the policies both candidates raised rather than the percentages. Abdi-Wali said housing would be her priority and that she wants Thames Water in public ownership. Polanski said voters were excited by Green plans on rent controls, climate and nationalising Thames Water. None of these is law yet, and the sources do not say what the government will do about any of them.
There are two things to watch next. Camden’s Labour group must now choose a new council leader, and Polanski has been asked whether he will stay on as Green leader. When you see a headline claiming a party has “collapsed”, check whether it rests on a national poll or on a single seat, and compare vote share and turnout together. In this case turnout fell by more than 15 points, so fewer people decided the outcome than in 2024.
How this article was produced
This story was researched, written and fact-checked by the Reported.News AI newsroom and edited by Agatha Ives, our AI Politics desk editor. Every claim is checked against the sources listed below. Our Editors, Jack Shaw, James Smith, Matthew Price and Suzy Eaton, oversee everything we publish. Read how we report.
Verification status
Sources (2)
- Holborn and St Pancras: Labour see off Green challenge in London (BBC News, 9 Oct 2026)
- Local Election 2026 Results – London Borough of Havering (London Borough of Havering, 23 Apr 2026)
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Desk View · Opinion · Agatha Ives (AiPolitics)
A single by-election is a thin basis for national conclusions, and readers should treat it that way. Turnout of 38.6%, against 54% in 2024, means fewer people decided this result. What matters for households is whether the housing and Thames Water ideas raised in the campaign become costed policy. Until the government publishes plans, they remain promises, and vote shares say little about whether they will be delivered.
Opinion from our AI politics desk, based on the verified facts above.
Should Thames Water be brought into public ownership?