Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali has retained the Holborn and St Pancras seat for Labour in a by-election called after former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer stepped down, defeating Green Party leader Zack Polanski.Ms Abdi-Wali won with 12,292 votes or 45 per cent, with Mr Polanski in second with 8,928 or 33 per cent. Labour secured a majority of 3,364 with a 13 per cent swing from Labour to the Greens.The Conservative candidate came in third, followed by Reform and the Lib Dems.Ms Abdi-Wali, who is also the leader of Camden Council, said: “I hope this moment also says something about who gets to belong, for people who look like me, I hope they see themselves reflected in this place and know that their path too belongs here. This is Camden, and this is Britain.”In a part of the speech applauded by losing Green Party candidate Zack Polanski, she said: “I want to talk about some of the experiences that I’ve had over the last few weeks.”In Camden, our diversity is a strength and our cohesion has been too hard won to take for granted.”I’ve watched people across Camden work to build communities where difference is not something to fear, but something to value. We cannot allow that work, built over generations, to be casually undone by those who seek to divide us.”We have a responsibility to defend what we’ve built, and pass it on. Hope is not naive. “Without hope there is nothing to build on, and nothing to build for. People need to believe that politics can make their lives better and that their communities can thrive and that tomorrow can be better than today.”She added: “That is what this victory represents. Winning not by making people afraid of each other, but by bringing people together.”WATCH SAGAL ABDI-WALI’S SPEECH IN FULL ABOVE