Green party leader Zack Polanski will seek to run in the Holborn & St Pancras byelection triggered by former prime minister Keir Starmer’s resignation on Tuesday.

“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,” he told the Camden New Journal on Thursday.

“Too often Labour has stood up for corporations and big money. I will stand up for people struggling to pay their bills.”

Polanski had already pledged to stand in a London byelection. If elected, he will become the Green party’s sixth MP.

“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,” he added.

Andrew Feinstein, the former South African MP who stood as an independent against Starmer in the 2024 general election and won 19% of the vote, has suggested he will not stand against Polanski.

“We must ensure that all progressive forces in Holborn & St Pancras unite in order to deliver an MP who represents us and will work for us,” Feinstein wrote on X shortly after news of Starmer’s resignation broke. “An MP who is the antithesis of everything that Starmer stands for.”

The Greens now run four London’s councils following the May elections, but are yet to win a parliamentary seat in the capital, meaning a Polanski victory would be historic for the party.

Polanski will also be hoping to turn the tide on the decline in the Greens’ favourability ratings, which are at their lowest to date, a YouGov poll found.

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