Greens aim for first London MP in Holborn race

On 8 October, voters in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency will choose their next MP.

A win in this seat, which has returned Labour MPs for decades, would be a feather in the cap of the Green Party after Sir Keir Starmer stood down from the House of Commons at the start of September, shortly after leaving office as prime minister.

Labour are confident of holding on, but the Greens also have high hopes of winning their first London seat - and there are 13 other candidates in the mix all hoping to take this central London constituency.

Zack Polanski, the Green Party candidate, told BBC London he was "feeling confident or I wouldn't have put my hat in the ring in the first place, but I'm not complacent".

He said he would "work with the Labour government constructively on the things we agree with".

He added: "But where they're letting us down on things like housing, on nationalising Thames Water, on tackling the climate crisis - they're talking about drilling for new oil and gas - voting Green and sending me to Parliament is a way to keep this Labour government in check."

Polanski, who is a member of the London Assembly and leader of the Green Party in England and Wales, said people in the constituency "desperately need change".

"People are telling me over and over again they can't afford the cost of housing, they need more council housing.