Polls have opened in Keir Starmer’s old seat in Holborn and St Pancras, where the Green party leader, Zack Polanski, is hoping to break Labour’s longstanding grip in the north London constituency. He might have his work cut out for him. Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali is projected to retain the seat in today’s byelection, but the party shouldn’t take victory for granted.
As the Guardian’s senior political correspondent, Peter Walker, reports, Polanski has mounted an intensive campaign, but the scale of the challenge is clear from the numbers. Starmer won the seat by 11,500 votes in 2024, after Labour majorities of nearly 28,000 in 2019 and more than 30,500 in 2017. You can read Peter’s report from this morning here: Andy Burnham is in Berlin today where he will hold meetings with German chancellor Friedrich Merz.
On the agenda is a new joint security partnership to counter sabotage, cyber-attacks and other hybrid threats, as well as support for Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, and disruption to global trade routes. We’re expecting to hear from the prime minister this afternoon. The diplomatic row between Britain and Israel is escalating over the UK’s consular presence in East Jerusalem.
Israel said the British consulate has “ceased to function” with 20 diplomats due to leave, but the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, said the building will remain open and renamed the “UK Mission”.
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