Green Party leader Zack Polanski has released a campaign video in Bengali urging voters to support him in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October. The move follows mocked attempts to appeal to voters in Urdu and French, as he seeks to challenge Labour’s long-standing control of the north London seat previously held by Keir Starmer.

Census figures show Bengali was the main language of 3,471 residents, compared with 2,488 for French and 156 for Urdu. Polanski’s multilingual campaigning has drawn criticism from Conservative politicians, who argue that election campaigning should be conducted in English, while London Mayor Sadiq Khan also ridiculed his Urdu delivery. The Greens finished second to Labour in local wards in the constituency in May, giving Polanski hope of capitalising on the party’s recent momentum.