Greens choose Zack Polanski for the by-election in Keir Starmer’s former seat

Green leader enters a high-profile contest

Britain’s Green Party has selected its leader, Zack Polanski, to contest the Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary by-election on October 8. Local party members chose Polanski over Camden councillor Hamza Chowdhury, placing one of the Greens’ most recognisable national figures into the race for the seat formerly held by Keir Starmer. The Guardian reported the result on Friday morning and published an editorial photograph of Polanski following the selection.

Why the seat is unusually important

The central London constituency became vacant after Starmer announced that he was leaving Parliament. He had represented the area since 2015 and Labour retained it in the 2024 general election with a majority above 11,000. Starmer had already resigned as prime minister in July, when his final Downing Street address formally closed his premiership. The by-election now provides voters with an opportunity to judge the political direction taken under his successor, Andy Burnham, much earlier than a general election would.

Polanski has acknowledged that the Greens begin as underdogs, but the party sees an opening after making local gains in Camden in May. Running the national leader signals that the Greens intend to devote attention and resources to the contest rather than treat it as a routine Labour defence. It also gives Polanski a platform to connect the party’s environmental programme with disputes over housing, public services and national energy policy in a densely populated urban constituency.

Labour fields a local government leader

Labour has selected Camden council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali. Her local profile creates a clear contrast with Polanski’s national leadership role. The Guardian reported that the campaign may overlap with government decisions on major North Sea energy projects, including expectations of an announcement about the Jackdaw gasfield. That could make climate and energy policy especially prominent, although no such project decision had been completed at the research cutoff and it should not be treated as part of the confirmed candidacy news.

The formal nomination period remains the next procedural test. Government proposals published in May describe stronger identity and declaration requirements for parliamentary candidates, part of a wider effort to improve confidence in nominations. Campaign attention will then turn to whether the Greens can consolidate local-election gains, whether Labour’s majority remains durable after a change of prime minister, and how Conservative and other candidates divide the opposition vote. The verified development is Polanski’s selection; forecasts about the outcome remain speculative until nominations close and campaigning develops.