Greens' Polanski brands Labour party 'big money', announces bid for Starmer's seat

Polanski: Greens can win Holborn and St Pancras, takes aim at Labour over 'corporations and big money'

Zack Polanski has confirmed he wants to be the Green party's candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, in an interview with the Camden New Journal, the local paper where Keir Starmer also announced he was standing down as the constituency's MP.

He said: "I have lived and worked in this community over many years, I know it well and I love it. It represents so many of the things that make London so special. I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in parliament. Holborn and St Pancras has everything that's the best of our country and so much potential. But for too long now it's been held back by governments who have failed to make the changes to improve people's lives. We know that the Greens can win here, and by electing me, voters will have someone who will always fight their corner – never scared of big donors or the party whip. Too often Labour has stood up for corporations and big money. I will stand up for people struggling to pay their bills."

Starmer had a majority of 11,572 at the last election and polling figures, along with May local election results, suggest Labour should win the byelection. However, Polanski has shown he is a formidable campaigner, and with him as the Greens' candidate, Labour faces a much tougher challenge holding the seat.

Polanski said he would put "making life more affordable" at the heart of his campaign: "It's a clear fight between Labour and the Green party. We know that people are struggling – that the things we used to afford are increasingly out of reach – and this is a chance to send a very clear message that we won't sit by as we get poorer and extreme wealth is concentrated at the very top."

Before Polanski officially becomes the Green party's candidate, he must be selected by the local party. It is not expected that this will be a problem. Polanski is hugely popular with party members, having won last year's leadership contest with 84% of the vote.

Polanski was a Lib Dem activist before leaving and joining the Green party in 2017. He departed after failing to be selected as the Lib Dem candidate for the Richmond Park byelection, though he says he left over policy, not the selection decision.

Only two Labour MPs have represented Holborn and St Pancras: former health secretary Frank Dobson, from 1983 to 2015, then Starmer. At the 2024 general election, Starmer held the seat with 48.9% of the vote, ahead of independent candidate Andrew Feinstein on 18.9% and the Greens in third on 10.4%. The Conservatives came fourth on 7.2%, Reform fifth on 6.1% and the Liberal Democrats sixth on 5.8%.

The popularity of independent and Green candidates in 2024 may have been partly down to former Labour voters protesting against Starmer's refusal to take a stronger position on Israel's actions in Gaza.

Kemi Badenoch will today give a speech saying the Conservatives would raise defence spending by £10bn a year, allowing the UK to reach the 3% of GDP target by 2030. The uplift would be funded by further welfare cuts, building on existing pledges to cut welfare by £23bn, and by reprioritising funding from other areas. Plans include saving at least £4bn through reforms to housing benefit, £3.1bn by reimposing the two-child benefit cap, and £1bn by ending VAT exemptions for Motability vehicles.

Labour claims these costings are not credible because the Tories have already 'spent' these notional savings. A Labour spokesperson said: "Dodgy Tory economics won't fund Britain's defences."

Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission has released political donation figures for the second quarter of 2026, showing Reform UK received £5.3m, ahead of Labour on £3.6m and Conservatives on £2.8m. Most of Reform UK's money came from Ben Delo, who gave £4m.

Andy Burnham is hosting Emmanuel Macron for political talks in Downing Street today. No 10 has announced increased deployment of police on the French coast to stop so-called "mega dinghies" from launching across the Channel.