Andy Burnham’s first ballot box test: Labour and Greens clash in Starmer’s old seat

The nascent leadership of Britain’s prime minister and Labour leader Andy Burnham faces its first electoral test on Thursday in a byelection in the Holborn and St Pancras seat vacated by the man he ousted from Downing Street, Keir Starmer.Labour’s candidate, Camden council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali, is seen as being in a two-horse race for the inner north London seat with the high-profile leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski.Labour sources are cautiously optimistic about winning the seat but a shock victory for Polanski, whose political base is seen as stronger further east in London towards Hackney, is not being ruled out.The slate of 15 candidates also includes veteran byelection candidate, George Galloway, of the Workers Party of Britain, although he is not expected to figure in the shake-up for the constituency, which includes well-known London landmarks such as King’s Cross and Euston stations and the British Museum in Bloomsbury.READ MOREThe southern end of the constituency, closer to the centre of London, includes large numbers of students and young professional flat-sharers, as well as a larger-than-average contingent of foreign-born residents.Further to the north, the constituency profile changes to include more settled communities around areas such as Kentish Town, where Starmer lives, and also Camden Town, which was traditionally an area with high numbers of Irish and Caribbean immigrants.Polanski has energised the Green Party since he became its leader in September 2025, although it has also fallen sharply in the polls over the past five months and has been leaking support back to Labour since Burnham ousted Starmer in July.A YouGov poll this week gave Labour a 16 point national lead over the Greens, although its lead in Holborn and St Pancras would be seen as far tighter.A Green Party flyer in a house window ahead of the Holborn and St Pancras byelection. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images The Green leader’s byelection bid is taking place against the backdrop of a tumultuous period for his party, which held its annual conference in Brighton last weekend; Polanski missed most of the gathering to campaign in London.The Greens were roiled by an anti-Israel motion passed by members at its conference stating that “Zionism is racism”. Yet four of the party’s five sitting MPs were opposed to the motion, while Polanski, who was banned from Israel after it was passed, also did not back it. He has since suggested the party needs to “move on” from the divisive debate.Green Party activists outside the Holborn and St Pancras Labour Party office earlier this year. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Labour, meanwhile, is on a high after Burnham’s successful first conference as leader. Abdi-Wali, a Muslim woman who arrived in Britain with her family aged six as a refugee from Somalia, has largely avoided wading too deeply into the Israel-Gaza debate during the campaign. Instead, her campaign has focused more on local issues in the constituency. Polanski has also tilted his campaign more towards water services and rent controls in the latter stages of the campaign.Labour’s campaign is being run by an MP based in south London, Liam Conlon, whose father is from Fermanagh and whose mother is Sue Gray, Starmer’s former chief of staff.[ Why Andy Burnham says ‘Brexit has done more harm than good’Opens in new window ]