Topic Lifecycle: Dormant
This topic is currently dormant in the news cycle. It was last covered on Monday 7 September 2026 and has not appeared in recent broadcasts.
Coverage trend (last 30 days)
How much coverage this topic got from each channel over the past month.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Recent stories
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What was reported
A plain summary of this topic, built from the channels that covered it.
Channels reported that Green Party leader Zack Polanski has announced he will stand in the by-election for Holborn and St Pancras, the constituency formerly represented by Keir Starmer, who resigned as MP earlier that week. The by-election is seen as an early electoral test for Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Polanski made his announcement through the Camden New Journal and on social media. Sky News reported that local election results show a narrow gap between Labour and the Greens in the area, while BBC noted that Polanski still requires approval from local party members. Coverage also referenced the 2024 general election result, where an independent candidate finished second, and there were differing reports on whether that independent would stand again. The by-election is expected to be closely contested.
Key Claims by Channel
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC One | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polanski stated in April that he would almost certainly run in a by-election in Starmer's constituency. | ||||||
| In the 2024 election, independent left candidate Andrew Feinstein received 20% and the Greens received 10% in the constituency. | · | · | · | |||
| Analysis of local election results shows the gap in vote share between Labour and the Green Party in the constituency is less than 10%. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| The Green Party manifesto proposes ending routine stop and search and scrapping Prevent. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Labour will close nominations for its candidate by noon tomorrow. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Labour's majority in the seat was around 11,000 to 11,500 at the last election. | · | · | · | · | ||
| Keir Starmer stood down as MP for Holborn and St Pancras. | · | · | · | · | ||
| Polanski is not yet the official Green candidate; he requires approval from local party members. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| The Labour Party will select its candidate the day before the Green Party's approval vote. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| There are questions about whether the independent candidate from the 2024 election will stand aside. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| The independent candidate who finished second in 2024 is not standing in the by-election. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| The by-election is seen as an early test for Prime Minister Andy Burnham and for the Green Party. | · | · | · | |||
| Political scientist Rob Ford said Polanski has a good chance of winning the seat. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Polanski has spent the past year saying he wants to replace the Labour Party. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| The by-election date has not been set, but is expected in October. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Keir Starmer had represented the seat since 2015, and the seat is considered a Labour stronghold. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Polanski has been the subject of claims that he can enlarge breasts by hypnosis. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Keir Starmer received nearly half the vote in the constituency at the 2024 general election. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| The Greens won 10 seats in the May local elections, including wards in this constituency. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Polanski is a London Assembly member but not an MP. | · | · | · | · | · |
This is a cross-channel consensus summary, not an objective account. Consensus can be uniformly wrong, or omit what only one channel covered.
Flagged quotes
Disputed or loaded quotes across this topic's coverage, newest first.
Verbatim quotes flagged as contested or rhetorically charged. Presence here reflects language used, not a judgement of accuracy.
- charged
… speaking to the Camden New Journal. The headline there was, Here we go, election frenzy as Green leader steps up for ballot box battle. He then took to X to say, Labour stands up …
- charged
… ballot box battle. He then took to X to say, Labour stands up for corporations and big money. I'll stand up for people and our communities. Let's take a quick look at the seat that Keir …
- charged
… New Journal about how he'll fight this campaign. He said, voting Green would be a clear message that we won't sit by as we get poorer and extreme wealth is concentrated at the very top. Worth stressing, he's not their candidate yet. That will have …
- charged
… seat for years. He believes the Greens can win it. Normally, it's a Labour strong seat, but these aren't normal times. So this is going to be a big test for …
- charged
… this race. And Burnham and those around him know that the symbolism of the government losing a seat represented by a former prime minister would be quite stark. And the fact that the Greens think at the very …
Timeline
Where this topic appeared. Cells show coverage time and are darker when there was more coverage.
| Date | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 7 September 2026 | — | — | — | 3m 50s 5.4% | — | — | — | — |
| Thursday 3 September 2026 | 47s 2.4% | — | 1m 45s 1.8% | — | — | — | 1m 56s 2.3% | 5m 20s 5.5% |
| Tuesday 1 September 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | 8m 38s 11.1% | — | — |
| Monday 24 August 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | 7m 23s 10.6% | — | — |
| Thursday 30 July 2026 | — | 2m 11s 2.9% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wednesday 29 July 2026 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 27s 3.0% | — |
| Tuesday 28 July 2026 | — | — | 1m 36s 2.8% | — | — | — | — | — |