Dale Vince’s £50,000 Donation to Labour Aims to Block Green Party Leader in By-Election

Environmental entrepreneur Dale Vince, founder of the green-energy firm Ecotricity, has contributed £50,000 to Labour’s campaign to defeat Green Party leader Zack Polanski in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election. Voters in Sir Keir Starmer’s former constituency will choose a new MP on October 8 (scheduled). Labour’s candidate is Sagal Abdi-Wali, leader of Camden Council. The donation covers more than a quarter of the £180,050 spending limit that candidates may use during the regulated period of a parliamentary by-election.

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Polanski’s election as Green Party leader in September 2025 sparked a surge in Green polling, followed by a by-election win in Gorton and Denton in February. Subsequent “missteps” by Polanski and the arrival of Prime Minister Rishi Burnham in Downing Street have seen Green support decline, prompting Labour to view the Holborn and St Pancras race as a test of its ability to contain the Greens and reclaim progressive voters.

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Vince, who has donated more than £6 million to Labour since 2013 through Ecotricity, also previously gave to the Greens, the Liberal Democrats, Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.

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Vince is lobbying the government ahead of the October 28 (scheduled) Budget to equalise capital gains tax with income tax and to introduce a price-control mechanism for North Sea oil and gas.

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A Labour spokesperson confirmed that “All donations will be declared in the normal way, in line with Electoral Commission and Parliamentary rules.” Vince also said he has been “upfront” about the donation, noting that it will not appear in Electoral Commission reports for several months.

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• “All donations will be declared in the normal way, in line with Electoral Commission and Parliamentary rules.” — Labour spokesperson

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