Can Polanski beat ‘Burnham bounce’ in Holborn despite Zionism row? | Firsthand

By The Telegraph

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Zack Polanski is running to take Sir Keir Starmer’s former seat of Holborn and St Pancras in north London. He is challenging Labour, and its candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali, in a constituency the party has held since its inception in 1983. The basement room full of Jewish voters erupts. Zack Polanski has just been asked whether he is a Zionist at a Holborn and St Pancras by-election hustings. “It’s a very simple yes or no question – are you a Zionist?” asks a member of the audience. “No, I am an anti-Zionist, which I know is difficult for people to hear in this room, but it’s the truth,” the leader of the Green Party responds. “I don’t think it is down to our country to decide what the future for Israelis and Palestinians will look like.” Watch the full version here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/10/02/holborn-st-pancras-byelection-dispatch-zack-polanski/ ► Sign up to the Telegraph's free new daily newsletter, From the Editor, bringing you the latest news, features

Tags: Holborn and St Pancras by-election, Zack Polanski, Green Party UK, Labour Party, Andy Burnham, Keir Starmer, UK politics, London by-election, student politics, housing crisis London, Andrew Feinstein, Reform UK, anti-semitism claims, Jewish community hustings, The Telegraph, Holborn voters, St Pancras voters, progressive politics UK, Middle East conflict UK politics, political debate London