Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali won with 12,292 votes to Zack Polanski's 8,928. Turnout fell to 38.76%. Who the new MP is and what it means for Camden Council.

Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden Council, is the new MP for Holborn and St Pancras.

She won Thursday’s by-election for Labour with 12,292 votes. The Green Party leader, Zack Polanski, came second with 8,928. Her majority is 3,364.

Camden Council, which ran the count overnight, published the result on Friday morning. Turnout was 38.76 per cent. (Camden Council, 9 October 2026)

The House of Commons now lists her as “Sagal Abdi-Wali MP”, a current member for Holborn and St Pancras from 8 October. (UK Parliament, Members API)

The result in full

Fifteen candidates stood. Camden’s declaration gives these totals. (Holborn and St Pancras by-election 2026 results)

Candidate Party Votes Share
Sagal Abdi-Wali (elected) Labour 12,292 45.2%
Zack Polanski Green 8,928 32.8%
Ewan Cameron Conservative 1,922 7.1%
Peter Newman Reform UK 1,612 5.9%
Patrick Thomas Stillman Liberal Democrats 924 3.4%
Tyler Kurtis Johnson Restore Britain 692 2.5%
George Galloway Workers Party 314 1.2%
Briony Anne Lonbay Kapoor Rejoin EU 236 0.9%
Barmy Brunch Official Monster Raving Loony Party 87 0.3%
Helen Spiby-Vann Christian Peoples Alliance 63 0.2%
Clare Fischer Climate Party 51 0.2%
Ben Walker UKIP - No to Illegal Immigration 51 0.2%
Ketankumar Pipaliya UK VOICE Safer and Stronger UK 23 0.1%
Jonathan Silberman Communist League 9 0.0%
Tom Darwood None given 7 0.0%

The shares are our own working. They are each candidate’s votes divided by the 27,211 valid votes, which is the sum of the column above.

The returning officer also rejected 108 ballot papers:

  • 43 had a vote for more than one candidate
  • 65 were unmarked or void for uncertainty
  • none lacked the official mark or could identify the voter
Horizontal bar chart of the six leading candidates in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October 2026. Labour's Sagal Abdi-Wali 12,292 votes, Green Zack Polanski 8,928, Conservative Ewan Cameron 1,922, Reform UK Peter Newman 1,612, Liberal Democrat Patrick Stillman 924, Restore Britain Tyler Johnson 692. Nine other candidates shared 841 votes. Turnout 38.76 per cent.
Chart by Camden Today
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A candidate who wins 5 per cent of the vote or less loses their £500 deposit. Only four candidates cleared that bar: Labour, the Greens, the Conservatives and Reform UK, which scraped over with 5.9 per cent. The other eleven lose their deposits.

How it compares with 2024

Sir Keir Starmer won the seat at the general election on 4 July 2024. The House of Commons Library’s record of that result gives the comparison. (Election result, Holborn and St Pancras, 4 July 2024)

Party 2024 share 2026 share Change
Labour 48.9% 45.2% down 3.7 points
Green 10.4% 32.8% up 22.4 points
Conservative 7.2% 7.1% down 0.1 points
Reform UK 6.1% 5.9% down 0.2 points
Liberal Democrats 5.8% 3.4% down 2.4 points

Three things stand out.

  • The Green vote more than doubled. It went from 4,030 votes to 8,928, on far fewer ballots cast.
  • Labour’s share barely moved, but its majority fell sharply. It was 11,572 in 2024. It is 3,364 now.
  • Far fewer people voted. Turnout was 54.1 per cent in 2024 and 38.76 per cent on Thursday. Labour polled 6,592 fewer votes than Starmer did.

The second-placed candidate in 2024 was the independent Andrew Feinstein, on 18.9 per cent. He did not stand this time, so part of the Green rise may be his vote moving. The figures cannot show that either way.

Who she is

Camden’s councillor register, checked on Saturday 10 October, still lists her as:

  • Title: Leader of the Council
  • Ward: Camden Square, one of the ten Camden wards inside the constituency
  • Party: Labour

(Councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali, London Borough of Camden)

She was first elected to the council in 2022. She was Cabinet Member for Better Homes before Labour councillors made her leader on 20 May 2026. (Camden Council, 20 May 2026)

Her campaign website says she came to Camden as a child refugee in the 1990s after fleeing war in Somalia. It says she was the first Black woman to lead the borough, and that she has spent 20 years volunteering locally. (Meet Sagal Abdi-Wali)

The same site lists three priorities “from day one”:

  • “Clearing up the mess and more public control of essential services”, including “holding Thames Water to account”
  • working with the Prime Minister to end rough sleeping in Camden, “by offering a bed to anyone that needs one by Christmas”
  • new training opportunities for young people at Capital City College and the Euston Skills Hub

(Sagal Abdi-Wali for Holborn and St Pancras)

Her homelessness plan says that as MP she will bring together Camden Council, local charities and specialist services to offer “everyone a route off the streets by Christmas”. (Sagal’s Plan for Homelessness)

We checked her housing claims against the council’s own documents before polling day. The £670 million she cites is Camden’s five-year repair and safety plan for its existing homes, and the Camley Street scheme already had planning permission. The detail is in our report from her selection.

What happens to Camden Council now

Nothing has changed yet. Neither she nor the council has said whether she will stay on as leader or as a Camden Square councillor. Camden’s newsroom carries only the result.

Being an MP does not disqualify anyone from sitting as a councillor. Section 80 of the Local Government Act 1972 does not list it.

Camden’s constitution sets out what happens if she gives up the leadership. (Article 7, The Cabinet)

  • The Leader stays in office unless removed by a no confidence vote, disqualified, or they resign (Article 7.03).
  • If the post falls vacant, the Deputy Leader acts as leader until full Council appoints a new one (Article 7.04). The Deputy Leader is Councillor Adam Harrison of Bloomsbury.

If she resigned her council seat as well, Camden Square would need a by-election. That must be held within 35 days of two local electors giving written notice of the vacancy. (Local Government Act 1972, section 89)

We will update this page when either the council or Abdi-Wali says what happens next.

What it means for you

  • If you live in one of the ten Camden wards in this seat, she is now your MP. That covers Bloomsbury, Camden Square, Camden Town, Haverstock, Holborn and Covent Garden, Kentish Town North, Kentish Town South, King’s Cross, Regent’s Park, St Pancras and Somers Town, and part of Primrose Hill. Our pre-election guide shows which side of the boundary each ward falls.
  • Your council services do not change. Bins, council tax and planning carry on as before. Check your bin collection day or your council tax band as usual.
  • Who runs the council may change. For now she remains leader and still holds her ward surgeries for Camden Square residents, according to the council’s register.
  • Hampstead and Highgate is unaffected. The nine Camden wards in that seat did not vote and keep their existing MP.

Sources