Holborn and St Pancras (/ˈhoʊbən ən sənt ˈpæŋkrəs/) is a parliamentary constituency ^{[n 1]} in Greater London that was created in 1983. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2015 by Sir Keir Starmer, the current Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition.^{[n 2]}

The seat of Holborn and St Pancras as drawn in 2010 is composed of all but a small western portion of the London Borough of Camden and extends from most of Covent Garden and Bloomsbury in the heart of the West End of London through other areas of the NW1 postal district, north, and in elevation terms upwards through fashionable and economically diverse Camden Town to the affluent suburb of Highgate in a long strip. Gospel Oak, particularly towards Kentish Town, has high deprivation levels, but the neighbouring Highgate ward has low deprivation levels.

The south part of the seat includes the University of London and several teaching hospitals, so the constituency has a large student population.

King's Cross, St Pancras International, and Euston railway termini are in the seat.^[2]

During the 20th century, the Bloomsbury, Holborn, Covent Garden, and Highgate wards overwhelmingly elected Conservative councillors. Since 2000, the wards forming the seat in its three revised forms have all swung against the Conservative Party. The 2014 local government elections (for a standard four-year term) produced one Green Party councillor for the Highgate ward; the remaining 32 councillors whose wards fall within the seat (as redrawn in 2010) are members of the Labour Party.^[3]

Political history

The seat has been in the hands of the Labour Party since 1983. The majorities achieved been varied from a relatively marginal 13.9% in 2005 (making it the lowest 150 seats for the party in that year by percentage of majority) to a landslide 51.7% in 2017. The 2015 result ranked the seat as the 77th safest of the party's 232 seats (by percentage majority).^[4]

The seat was created in 1983 as a primary successor to Holborn and St Pancras South, which was created in 1950. The seat covers the southern half of the London Borough of Camden, including all or most of Camden Town, King's Cross, Gospel Oak, Kentish Town and Bloomsbury.

The constituency has contained the following wards of the London Borough of Camden:

1983–1997

Bloomsbury, Brunswick, Camden, Castlehaven, Caversham, Chalk Farm, Gospel Oak, Grafton, Holborn, King's Cross, Regent's Park, St John's, St Pancras, and Somers Town.

1997–2010

As above, less Gospel Oak

2010–present

Bloomsbury, Camden Town with Primrose Hill, Cantelowes, Gospel Oak, Haverstock, Highgate, Holborn and Covent Garden, Kentish Town, King's Cross, Regent's Park, and St Pancras and Somers Town. (Wards renamed and redrawn before 2010 election.)

The seat was held from 1983 to 2015 by Frank Dobson of the Labour Party, who had been elected in 1979 to the predecessor seat of Holborn & St Pancras South. Dobson was the longest-serving Labour MP in London until he stood down in 2015. The constituency has been represented by Keir Starmer since the 2015 general election, who has served as Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition since April 2020.

• List of parliamentary constituencies in London