Green Party leader releases Urdu video to court South Asian voters in London by-election

Ahead of the October 8 Holborn and St Pancras by-election, Green Party leader Zack Polanski released a campaign video spoken wholly in Urdu and shared it via his Bold Politics podcast channel on X. In the message he introduced himself and asked voters to support the Greens, claiming Labour had made many U-turns under Green pressure. The constituency’s census data shows a high proportion of Asian residents, with notable Bangladeshi, Indian and Pakistani communities and about one-fifth identifying as Muslim.

Conservative spokesperson Katie Lam and Labour’s Helen Whately condemned the tactic, saying politics should be conducted in English. The Green Party responded that democracy does not discriminate by language and that speaking to Urdu-speaking residents is appropriate for a diverse London seat. The by-election was triggered by Sir Keir Starmer’s resignation, with Labour, the Conservatives, Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats also fielding candidates.