UK Green Party leader Polanski announces intention to run for Starmer's MP seat in London

Zack Polanski wants to turn Keir Starmer’s former London constituency into a direct contest between Labour and the Green Party. The Green Party leader told the Camden New Journal that he intends to stand in a by-election for Holborn and St Pancras after Starmer resigned on Tuesday.

“I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in Parliament,” Polanski said, describing the constituency as a place that “represents so many of the things that make London so special.” He said Holborn and St Pancras had “everything that’s the best of our country and so much potential.”

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I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in Parliament.

Polanski still needs to win the formal backing of local Green Party members. The party currently has five MPs but has never won a parliamentary seat in the capital. Holborn and St Pancras has been a Labour seat since the 1980s, first represented by Frank Dobson and later by Starmer.

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It’s a clear fight between Labour and the Green Party.

Polanski acknowledged the challenge of taking on Labour in a constituency with that history. “It’s a clear fight between Labour and the Green Party,” he told the newspaper. He linked his campaign to the cost-of-living pressures facing voters, saying that things people once could afford were becoming increasingly out of reach.

He promised to use a parliamentary seat to pressure the Labour government to make life more affordable for local residents. Polanski is the Green Party’s first Jewish leader and a vocal critic of Israel who identifies as anti-Zionist and frequently attends pro-Palestinian events.

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What voters in Holborn and St Pancras will get with me as their MP is someone totally dedicated to standing up for them.