Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali wins by-election for Keir Starmer's former seat
In short
Labour Party candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali (Сагал Абди-Вали) won the by-election in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency with 45.17% of the vote, taking the seat in the UK parliament left by former prime minister Keir Starmer. Green Party leader Zack Polanski came second with 32.81%, Russian outlets reported on October 9.
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Sagal Abdi-Wali (Сагал Абди-Вали), representing the Labour Party, won the by-election to the House of Commons in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency, taking the seat left by former prime minister Keir Starmer, Russian outlets reported on October 9. She received 45.17% of the vote, according to TASS, RIA Novosti and Kommersant. RIA Novosti put her total at 12,292 votes, while Kommersant said she received almost 12,300. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Green Party leader Zack Polanski came second with 8,928 votes (32.81%), RIA Novosti reported. The Conservatives finished third with 1,922 votes, Reform UK fourth with 1,612 and the Liberal Democrats fifth with 924, the agency said. Kommersant reported that turnout was 39%, significantly lower than the 54% recorded at the 2024 general election. [ 2 , 3 ]
Starmer left his seat in parliament in early September, shortly after leaving the post of prime minister, RIA Novosti reported. The agency said observers had noted that voters in this part of the British capital traditionally vote Labour. According to Kommersant, Abdi-Wali is the head of the council of the London borough of Camden and became the first woman MP for the constituency. [ 2 , 3 ]
Both agencies and Kommersant referred to her Somali origin, though their accounts of her arrival differ. RIA Novosti said she was born in 1984 and came to the UK from Somalia at the age of six. Kommersant said she arrived in the UK in the mid-1990s as a refugee from Somalia, and TASS also described her as a refugee from Somalia. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Kommersant reported that Labour regards the result as support for the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, and as proof that the party can win back voters who had leaned toward the Greens. The Greens' standing in opinion polls has fallen sharply since July, when Burnham came to power, and Labour now has 27% support against 11% for the Greens, the newspaper said. It wrote that Polanski's defeat is likely to raise new questions about his leadership of the party, even though membership more than tripled under him to over 200,000. [ 3 ]
Why it matters
Labour kept the seat that Starmer gave up in September. Kommersant reported that Labour sees the result as support for new prime minister Andy Burnham and as proof it can win back voters who had leaned toward the Greens, and that the defeat is likely to raise new questions about Polanski's leadership of the Green Party.
Key facts
- Sagal Abdi-Wali of the Labour Party won the by-election in Holborn and St Pancras with 45.17% of the vote. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- RIA Novosti put her total at 12,292 votes; Kommersant said almost 12,300. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Green Party leader Zack Polanski came second with 8,928 votes (32.81%). [ 2 , 3 ]
- The Conservatives came third (1,922 votes), Reform UK fourth (1,612) and the Liberal Democrats fifth (924). [ 2 ]
- Turnout was 39%, against 54% at the 2024 general election, according to Kommersant. [ 3 ]
- Keir Starmer left his seat in parliament in September. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Abdi-Wali heads the council of the London borough of Camden and became the first woman MP for the constituency, Kommersant reported. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- When Abdi-Wali arrived in the UK. RIA Novosti said she was born in 1984 and arrived from Somalia aged six, while Kommersant said she arrived as a refugee in the mid-1990s; the two accounts do not give the same timing.
- The date the by-election was held. The documents report the result on October 9 but do not state the polling date.
- Labour's reading of the result as support for Andy Burnham and the outlook for Polanski's leadership. Reported only by Kommersant.