Polls close in Holborn as counting begins to decide if Polanski survives or Labour holds Starmer's old seat
From the Newshound archive · first published 7 October 2026 · last updated 8 October 2026.
Zack Polanski, whose net approval rating of -28 makes him less popular than Nigel Farage, faces a crunch Holborn and St Pancras by-election tomorrow.
Counting is under way in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election after polls closed at 10pm, with results expected between 3am and 4am Friday. Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali, Camden Council leader and bookies' 1-33 favourite, is battling Green Party leader Zack Polanski for a seat Labour has held since 1983 — an 11,572 majority that Polanski must overturn.
Polanski's leadership is on the line: Conservatives predict it will be 'curtains' for him if he loses, and sources inside his own party are expected to demand a change of direction.
The Green campaign was rocked by a conference motion branding Zionism racism, which Polanski abstained on — he skipped most of the Brighton conference to campaign in north London instead.
Andy Burnham, in his first major electoral test as Prime Minister, made a last-minute plea urging Londoners to vote for 'hope', personally backing Abdi-Wali, who arrived in Britain as a refugee in the 1990s.
