Overview
- Green Party leader Zack Polanski released a by‑election video in Urdu and then a follow‑up clip in French to address voters in Holborn and St Pancras and to respond to critics.
- Conservative figures condemned the Urdu video as an inappropriate appeal to group identity and called for a ban on non‑English campaigning, while the Greens defended multilingual outreach as inclusive voter contact.
- Reporters and critics cited 2021 census data showing about 2,488 French speakers and roughly 156 Urdu speakers in the constituency to argue the choice of Urdu was a poor strategic fit.
- The exchange escalated on Thursday when Mayor Sadiq Khan answered Polanski in Urdu at Mayor’s Question Time, a move widely reported as mocking and which intensified media attention on campaign tactics.
- The incident sharpens the spotlight on the October 8 by‑election where Labour remains favoured but the Greens have local momentum, and it could shape voter perceptions of outreach, identity appeals, and candidate optics.