Labour fends off the Green party in closely watched UK by-election

Sagal Abdi-Wali, who arrived in the UK as child refugee from Somalia, won 3,300 more votes than Zack Polanski, leader of the Greens.Published On 9 Oct 20269 Oct 2026The Labour Party has won an election for a parliamentary seat vacated by former leader Keir Starmer, fending off a challenge from the left-wing Green Party in a boost for the British prime minister.Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of the local council, won the seat in the central London constituency of Holborn and St Pancras with 12,292 votes, compared with 8,928 for Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader who came second.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Yes, Zionism is racismlist 2 of 4UK Greens are wrong – Zionism is not racismlist 3 of 4Before UK Greens, who else has equated Zionism with racism?list 4 of 4Pro-Palestine Greens challenge Labour’s grip on Starmer’s former seatend of listThe victory, which had been expected, will buoy Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who was recently installed by lawmakers fearful that Starmer’s unpopularity was opening the way for a challenge by the populist Reform UK party at the next national election.After losing left-wing support to the Greens earlier this year, L...