Green Party leader Zack Polanski will stand to become an MP in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, triggered after Sir Keir Starmer quit parliament.

Polanski, currently a London Assembly member, has solid backing from Green Party members to run as the party's candidate in the constituency, which has historically been considered a Labour safe seat, according to reports.

He announced his intention to stand in an interview with the local newspaper Camden New Journal.

"I have lived and worked in this community over many years, I know it well and I love it," he said. "It represents so many of the things that make London so special. I am so excited by the prospect of representing this place in Parliament.

"Holborn and St Pancras has everything that's the best of our country and so much potential."

He added that voters would have someone "who will always fight their corner," and accused Labour of backing "corporations and big money."

The move gives the Greens a high-profile opportunity in the party's strongest type of territory — the 2024 general election saw the Greens win a record four Westminster seats, all in urban constituencies, and the party has tended to perform best in inner-London and university-seat contests. The announcement piles pressure on Labour to field a candidate capable of defeating the high-profile yet controversial Green leader.

2024 result

In the 2024 election, Starmer won re-election with a reduced vote share of about 49 per cent. Leftist activist Andrew Feinstein won just under 19 per cent, while the Greens took 10.4 per cent — a base Polanski would need to more than double to overturn Labour's majority.

Labour councillor Sagal Abdi-Wali is the frontrunner to stand for Labour, according to the Telegraph.

Polanski's ratings have dropped

Polanski's approval rating has fallen to -24 in the latest City AM / Freshwater Strategy polling, compared with a net score of 12 for Andy Burnham, -20 for Nigel Farage and four for Kemi Badenoch. The Manchester-born leader previously stood at a high of minus one.

The party's own ratings have also slipped, with Andy Burnham's rise to Number 10 allowing Labour to regain support. The Greens currently hold 10 per cent of the vote share, compared with 23 per cent for Labour and 26 per cent for Reform UK.

The Green Party leader has come under fire in recent months over issues relating to council tax, sharing a picture of a man calling for Farage's death, claiming to be a Red Cross spokesman, and criticising the Metropolitan Police over its response to an attack on Jewish people in Golders Green.