Labour has won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election for the seat vacated by former Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali received 12,292 votes, while Green leader Zack Polanski came in second with 8,929
Abdi-Wali says it's an "extraordinary honour" to represent Holborn and St Pancras as she addresses the crowd at the count
The inner London constituency has been Labour since it was created in 1983, with the party taking at least 40% of the vote at every general election
The turnout in Thursday's vote is confirmed as 38.76%, which is lower than in 2024
Susana Mendonca
BBC London
Labour members were jubilant as Camden Council’s leader Sagal Abdi-Wali became Holborn and St Pancras’ latest MP.
She spoke of her “pride and humility” following the legacy of the previous MPs here: Keir Starmer and Frank Dobson.
She said the diversity of the constituency was a strength.
Zack Polanski has said "of course" he will carry on as leader of the Green Party following his loss in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
The party leader says the Green movement is "so much bigger" than one election, adding: "We are going to build and we are going to grow."
He says many people have expressed their excitement at the party's plans for rent controls, tackling the climate crisis and nationalising Thames Water.
"So many people told me on the doorsteps that they want to give Andy Burnham a chance. Well he's got a chance now, let's see what he does with it."
Image source, PA MediaAbdi-Wali goes on to thank her two predecessors in the seat, Labour MP Frank Dobson and ex-PM Keir Starmer.
She says she is "deeply grateful" for their service and "for the foundations that they've left for the next generation".
"To now have the privilege of taking on that mantle and to do so as the first woman to represent Holborn and St Pancras is an extraordinary honour," she adds.
Turning to policy, she says that homelessness is the issue that drove her into politics and she wants to work with Andy Burnham and the government to "tackle rough sleeping while addressing the wider housing crisis".
She also says she wants to see Thames Water "brought into public ownership".
Concluding her speech, she says that "people need to believe that politics can make their lives better" and she says her campaign gave "people something to believe in".
Sagal Abdi-Wali is now addressing the crowd at Camden Council offices, thanking the returning officer, staff and police.
The newly elected MP thanks her fellow candidates, saying that standing for public office "takes courage" and that she is deeply honoured that the community in Camden has trusted in her to be the next member of parliament.
She says: "Whether you voted for me or not my commitment to this community runs deep."
Abdi-Wali says this moment is deeply personal to her, and says she hopes that people who look like her see themselves reflected.
"This is Camden, and this is Britain," she says.
The Green Party have come second in the by-election, with Zack Polanski receiving 8,928 votes.
Ewan Cameron of the Conservatives follows in third place, having accumulated 1,922 votes.
Image source, PA MediaThe Labour Party has won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, with Sagal Abdi-Wali receiving 12,292 votes.
Candidates are gathered for the result of the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
We will be bringing you updates here and you can also watch along live on the stream at the top of this page.
Susana Mendonça
BBC London
Zack Polanski just told waiting journalists that he is going to continue as leader of the Green Party.
Tara Mewawalla
Reporting from the Holborn and St Pancras by-election
All eyes are on the podium now as council staff, candidates, party members and journalists wait expectantly for the acting returning officer Jon Rowney to announce the results.
Labour's candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali has also now entered the building and the results could come any moment now.
Labour candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali has been seen arriving at Camden Council offices ahead of tonight's by-election result.
Her arrival comes shortly after the Green Party conceded the contest.
Responding to news of the Green Party conceding in tonight's by-election, Professor John Curtice says the party could still acquire a "very considerable vote".
The politics professor at the University of Strathclyde tells BBC News that while it is "not surprising" the party has conceded, he is intrigued to know whether the Greens are indeed a "close second" as they said they were in their statement.
He adds: "They are still, at least in this kind of constituency, going to represent far more of threat to Labour than historically they have ever managed to achieve before."
Tara Mewawalla
Reporting from the Holborn and St Pancras by-election
This was the scrum of journalists and camera-people awaiting Zack Polanski as he arrived at the count.
He's now putting on his green rosette and laughing while talking to members of his party.
Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent at the Holborn and St Pancras by-election
All the talk earlier was that we could expect a declaration at around 04:00 BST. But that seems to have changed.
Most of the counting around us appears to have finished.
A Labour source tells me it could come within the next half hour. There’s still nothing official, but it doesn’t look as if we’re far away now
Chris Mason
Political editor
The Green Party has conceded in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election.
A party spokesman says: "It is clear now we will come a close second in this by-election.
"Taking the fight to Labour in one of its safest seats shows just how far the Greens have come. Voters want us to keep Labour’s feet to the fire on affordable housing, public ownership of water and the climate crisis.
"Greens will be there every single day, holding Labour to account and demanding the change people voted for."
Tara Mewawalla
Reporting from the Holborn and St Pancras by-election
I’ve been speaking to some of the candidates who have been here for most of the evening.
Briony Kapoor for the Rejoin EU Party predicts Labour will win, and Greens will come in second tonight.
She says she is pleased with the prime minister’s recent comments that it is “possible” a future Labour election manifesto could promise a new in-out referendum on the European Union.
Briony Kapoor believes Labour will win the seat, with the Greens coming in second
Restore’s candidate Tyler Johnson says his party is “the new blue” and is pushing Reform and the Conservative Party towards the right.
He is “optimistic” tonight and says he will be satisfied if his vote share comes close to Reform UK or the Conservative Party.
I also spoke to the leader of the Climate Party earlier, who tells me the party’s decision to run in this by-election is about the direction in which Zack Polanski has taken the Green Party.
Ed Gemmell claims the Green Party are “no longer our cousins” on environmental issues and says his candidate Clare Fischeris here to put a “stake in the ground about climate”.
Liberal Democrats candidate Patrick Stillman
Liberal Democrats candidate Patrick Stillman doesn’t expect to win tonight but says he is “not measuring success by vote share”.
He says speaking to constituents on the campaign trail told him that British voters “don’t like being told they’ve got two options” and that many he spoke to were “very dissatisfied” with Labour but did not want to vote for the Green Party.
His says his goal with this by-election was to build the party’s base in this constituency “for the future” and he insists that the Liberal Democrats are still relevant despite the growth of the Green Party and Reform UK.
Green candidate Zack Polanski has been pictured arriving at the Camden Council offices ahead of tonight's by-election results.
Watch: Zack Polanski refuses to answer questions on the Green's Zionism conference motion
Green Party leader Zack Polanski - the party's by-election candidate - declined to answer questions about his party's adoption of a motion declaring Zionism to be racism, when asked by the BBC earlier today.
Polanski was canvassing in the constituency when asked by journalists for this reaction to the policy and why he did not take part in the vote.
He did not vote on the motion after leaving the party's conference early to campaign in the north London constituency.
The motion passed by members of the Green Party at its conference last weekend defined Zionism as an ideology supporting "an ethnonationalist Jewish state" and backed a "single democratic Palestinian state in all of historic Palestine", which includes modern-day Israel.
Following the motion Polanksi said he will not accept anyone being excluded from the Green Party "because of the religious or communal body they are part of".
Israel's foreign ministry described the motion as a "clear antisemitic text" and said it has banned the Green Party leader from entering the country.
Staff members can be seen sifting through ballot papers at the Camden Council offices as the count continues in to the early hours.
Image source, Reuters
Image source, Reuters
Image source, ReutersSusana Mendonca
BBC London
A noisy moment in the counting hall just before as the Monster Raving Loonies arrived.
I just heard their candidate Barmy Brunch (who is wearing a baked beans mask) saying: “Count Binface is a has-bean.”
Meanwhile Labour sources I’ve been chatting to seem quietly confident.
One who was out canvassing earlier told me voters on the doorstep have liked their message on local issues like the cost of living.
