Holborn and St Pancras by-election result live: Polanski insists he will stay as Green leader after Labour win

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:

Zack Polanski insisted he was right to miss the Green Party conference vote on the “Zionism is racism” motion because he was focused on the Holborn and St Pancras campaign.

Former Green leader Caroline Lucas criticised him for not taking part in the vote and showing where he stood on the issue.

But Mr Polanski told Sky News: “There was a national by-election going on, one of the most important elections in our recent history and people in that election said they wanted to see me on the ground.

“They wanted to see me dealing with local issues, so I did exactly that.

”Asked if he supported the motion, he said: “I would have supported the motion as amended. It wasn’t amended, so no.”

But he added: “Ultimately, I agree with the substance of the motion. Where I disagree is the idea the Green Party should be deciding what the future of the region looks like.”

Zack Polanski said it would be up to Green Party members whether he continues as leader after he failed in his effort to become an MP.

Under the Green Party’s rules he faces a scheduled leadership election next year, with his position being questioned following the controversy over the party’s anti-Zionist conference motion and the failure to oust Labour in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

Asked how confident he was to be re-elected as leader he told Sky News: “That’s going to be up to the members and that’s going to be up to the leadership election that happens next summer.

“What I’m experiencing, though, is an immense amount of people who are saying actually they’ve never been prouder to be a Green Party member.”

He said it was “difficult being leader of any party, particularly the Green Party”.

“But I signed up for that difficult job and I’m more than ready to continue.”

Here are the results:

A former Green leader earlier suggested Mr Polanski could face a threat to his leadership if he lost.

Caroline Lucas, the three-time former Green Party leader who was its first MP, said people should “see what happens in the coming days and weeks” when asked about his future the previous evening on BBC Newsnight.

She pointed to Mr Polanski’s failure to take part in the controversial anti-Zionism motion on Sunday, saying he “should have been there and he should have voted”.

Mr Polanski did not directly answer when asked if he believed that Zionism is racism after the by-election result, but said: “The displacement of the Palestinian people, the genocide is clearly racist.”

He denied he had lost control of his party.“I don’t think that’s true at all. I’ve got a party that was 55,000, 60,000 members when I was running for leader, it’s now 220,000.

“Any member is entitled to their opinion. We’re a democratic grassroots party.”

It’s been around four hours since Labour was declared the winners of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

Here’s everything that happened overnight:

• As polls closed at 10pm, Labour and the Greens issued statements. Deputy Labour leader Lucy Powell said their candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali had “campaigned positively” on her vision to improve the area, while the Greens said Zack Polanski ran a “positive campaign full of energy”.
• Turnout was down on the 2024 general election, down from 54.46 per cent to 38.76 per cent.
• At around 2:30am, the Greens admitted defeat, with a spokesperson for the party saying it is “clear now we will come a close second in this by-election”.
• The result was officially declared at around 3am, as it was revealed Labour had won 12,292 votes.
• Ms Abdi-Wali said her victory was a testament to the success of diversity in the borough in her speech after the results were declared.
• Shortly after, Zack Polanski said he would “of course” carry on as leader of the Greens – but he will likely face pressure from within his party in the wake of the election loss.

Zack Polanski has said “this is Andy Burnham’s honeymoon” as he spoke out following his loss in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

The Green Party leader lost the contest to Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali after fighting a campaign in an area which has seen big Green gains in recent months.

In a video on social media, Mr Polanski was positive about the increase in the Green Party’s vote share in the constituency, but said: “I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t want to win. That’s what you do in elections.”

He added: “But without a doubt, this is Andy Burnham’s honeymoon. And also, people told me on the doorsteps they want to give Andy Burnham a chance.

“Well, he’s got that chance now.”

Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council, has been declared as the new MP for Holborn and St Pancras after beating Zack Polanski.

Ms Abdi-Wali has represented Camden Square as a councillor since 2022, and assumed leadership of the council in May.

Ms Abdi-Wali arrived in the UK as a child refugee from Somalia aged six and has lived in the area since she was a child, only leaving for a brief stint to study at university.

She has volunteered in the local community since she was a teenager, and has sought to make housing a key issue in her campaign.

You can read The Independent’s full interview with her here:

Zack Polanski has congratulated Labour’s newest MP on her victory in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.

The contest was widely believed to be a two horse race between the Green Party leader and Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali, but it was Labour who claimed the seat.

Taking to X early this morning, Mr Polanski congratulated Ms Abdi-Wali on her win.

“Congratulations to @Sagal_AW. I wish her the very best in representing this amazing place,” he wrote.

“I’m proud of the campaign we fought. To go from 10% to 33% of the vote share during the PM’s ‘bounce’ is good – but our ambitions are far higher.”

Zack Polanski has insisted running in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election wasn’t a mistake.

Asked if he regretted standing in the seat after losing to Labour, he told Sky News: “It’s an election. I’m perfectly happy to stand in an election.”

And asked if he thought it was a mistake, he said: “I don’t think it was a mistake at all. I think it’s been an opportunity to present the Green Party values, to talk about rent controls, tackling the climate crisis, nationalising Thames Water.

“It’s been amazing to speak to people in Holborn and St Pancras. I’ve really enjoyed the last few weeks.”

Zack Polanski has publicly addressed his party’s controversial motion to declare ‘Zionism is racism’ for the first time.

The Green leader was asked about the motion in the moments after it was officially declared he had lost the Holborn and St Pancras by-election

He told GB News: “I grew up in a Zionist household, and I grew up with the idea that that region was a land without people and the people without a land.

“And as I’ve educated myself, learned, discovered. I don’t believe that’s true. And what we’re seeing is an ongoing genocide and the displacement of the Palestinian people. I believe that’s clearly racist.”

Asked if he supported a two-state solution, he said: “I believe that it’s not our role to decide, but what I do believe is that any state should have equal rights, and that shouldn’t be based on faith or religion.

“That should be based on international human law and upholding equal rights for everyone.”