Green Party Leader Zack Polanski has been reacting to the result of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, which saw the party’s second strongest result in a Parliamentary by-election ever, more than tripling its vote share achieved in 2024.

The by-election was triggered just over a month ago, when the constituency’s former representative – and Labour’s former prime minister – Keir Starmer stood down as MP.

Considered one of Labour’s safest seats, it has been held by the party for decades.

“What will really stick with me… is all the amazing people”

Zack congratulated Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali on being elected MP, “wish[ing] her the very best” in representing the “amazing place” of Holborn and St Pancras.

In a video posted this morning, Zack reflected on an “amazing few weeks” on the campaign.

“What will really stick with me from this campaign is all the amazing people I’ve met.”

“From the women at Crossroads Community Centre to the volunteers who have been out there giving so much of their free time to door knocking and leafleting.”

“It’s genuinely been inspiring how many people came round in this campaign.”

Second best by-election result

Despite his disappointment, Zack also reflected on what was a strong result for the Green Party.

The 33% Zack received was more than three times the vote share the Green Party received in 2024, and a 22 percentage point increase.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Zack acknowledged his disappointment – “No politician runs an election and doesn’t want to win” – but stressed how “incredibly proud” he was of both the result and the campaign.

“I knew we had a good chance of taking a run at the seat, and in fact what we got was the second best ever by-election result in Green Party history.”

Second, of course, only to Hannah Spencer’s stunning victory over Labour and Reform in Gorton and Denton earlier this year.

The Green Party’s ability to challenge Labour in such seats has not gone unnoticed.

As Zack told BBC Breakfast, independent pollster John Curtice acknowledged this morning that “the Green Party are more of an electoral threat in these seats than we’ve ever been before”.

And the Green Party’s challenge to Labour won’t end here.

“People voted Green and then we moved Labour move”

It is easy forget in a year of frantic political change, but the Green Party’s impact on the direction of the country has been seismic.

At the start of the year, the strategy of Labour PM Keir Starmer was seemingly to ‘out-Reform’ Reform.

But since then the Green Party has given Labour one headache after another.

In February, Hannah Spencer’s victory over Labour and Reform in Gorton and Denton signalled the start of the end for Keir Starmer.

The local elections in May were the final straw.

The Green Party won big in former Labour heartlands, and took four times as many votes off Labour as did Reform.

In short, the Green Party pushed Keir Starmer out of No. 10.

As Zack told Sky News this morning:

“People voted Green and then we moved Labour.”

“At the May local elections, four times as many votes went to the Green Party as they did to Reform.”

“I always said that part of my mission was to make the Labour government more worried about the Green Party than Reform. Mission achieved.”

“We’ve now got a different prime minister who is in a honeymoon, who is talking a lot of the language I’ve been talking about for the past year. So I see that as a result.”

And the party’s influence continued during the campaign.

Zack’s campaign demands of introducing rent controls, nationalising Thames Water, and keeping fossil fuels in the ground resonated with residents – and forced Labour to move.

It has been rumoured for months that Andy Burnham is set to greenlight new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea. Why is it still not confirmed? The PM reportedly postponed the decision until after the by-election out of fear of losing votes to the Green Party.

And as Zack told Sky News, successful Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali “has pledged to oppose new oil and gas, and to push the Prime Minister to nationalise Thames Water”.

Speaking to PA, he said “I hope the Prime Minister will listen to Holborn and St Pancras’s new MP and keep fossil fuels in the ground.”

There’s one way to keep that pressure on: vote Green, and watch Labour move.

“Burnham has a chance now. Let’s see what he does…”

Although the Green Party ultimately came up short in Holborn and St Pancras, its message was well received on the doorstep.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast this morning, Zack explained:

“People said to me over and over again, ‘We really like the Green Party. We like your policies to end rip off Britain, for rent controls, to nationalise Thames Water. But we just want to give Andy Burnham a chance.”

“Well, Andy Burnham has got a chance now. Let’s see what he does with it.”

So far, his actions have not quite lived up to his words.

According to his own Chancellor John Healey – one of many in the cabinet to serve under Starmer – Burnham’s is a “continuity” government.

And so despite calling for an end to 40 years of neoliberalism in May, since entering No 10 the PM has somewhat cooled on the idea.

In a challenge to the PM, Zack told Sky:

“The real question now – and no-one know the answer to this – is: Does Andy Burnham really want to end neoliberalism?”

“And if he does, why has ruled out rent controls? Why is he talking about public control of water companies, rather than national ownership?”

“What we’re seeing is rhetoric. What we’re not yet seeing is action.”

“If there is action, I’ll be the first to applaud him.”

Featured image of Zack Polanski: Bold Politics

The post “Our second best ever by-election result” – Zack Polanski reacts to Holborn and St Pancras by...

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