# Labour names candidate to stand in by-election for Starmer’s old seat

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/labour-names-candidate-to-stand-in-by-election-for-starmers-old-seat/
- Published: 2026-09-10T09:20:16+00:00
- Updated: 2026-09-10T15:42:26+00:00
- Original publisher: The Independent (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-sagal-abdi-wali-starmer-by-election-holborn-st-pancras-b3047604.html
- Topics: Celebrity, Elections, Entertainment, Government, Politics

## Key points

- Labour picks Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali for Starmer's old seat
- Holborn and St Pancras by-election set for 8 October
- Greens, led by Zack Polanski, seen as main challengers to Labour

## Summary

Labour has selected Sagal Abdi-Wali, leader of Camden Council, as its candidate for the 8 October by-election in Holborn and St Pancras, the seat Sir Keir Starmer is vacating after deciding to leave Parliament to focus on international affairs. The contest tests Labour's grip on a constituency it has held continuously since 1983, with the Green Party seen as the main challenger amid lingering discontent among some former Labour voters over Sir Keir's stance on the Gaza war.

Abdi-Wali, a Camden Square councillor since 2022 and council leader since May, arrived in Britain as a refugee and said she wants to "give back the hope" the area gave her family. The Green nomination proved contested, with leader Zack Polanski, a London Assembly member, seeing off a challenge from local councillor Hamza Chowdhury, who had questioned whether Polanski would be a genuinely local candidate; Polanski rejected the criticism, citing his familiarity with the area. At the 2024 general election, Starmer won the seat with 48.9% of the vote, ahead of independent Andrew Feinstein (18.9%) and the Greens (10.4%), with the Conservatives, Reform and the Liberal Democrats trailing further behind; the Greens also gained ground in Camden's May local elections, underlining their bid to squeeze Labour's majority.

## Coverage

- [The Independent: Labour names candidate to stand in by-election for Starmer’s old seat](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-sagal-abdi-wali-starmer-by-election-holborn-st-pancras-b3047604.html)
- [Daily Mail: Labour picks Somali refugee to fight by-election for Starmer's old seat… as Zack Polanski faces struggle to be Green hopeful](https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16120099/Labour-Somalian-refugee-election-Starmer-seat-Zack-Polanski-Greens.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.