Peter Newman - Reform UK candidate for Holborn and St Pancras | Reform Watch

Peter "Pete" Newman is Reform UK's candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election on 8 October 2026, contesting the seat vacated by Sir Keir Starmer. His selection was announced by the party on 14 September 2026. Newman is a former Metropolitan Police officer. Reform UK describes him as a former counter-terrorism commander with decades of experience in policing and security who helped lead the force's response in Westminster after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. The BBC reported that, according to the party, he served at the Met between 2004 and 2009, working on crime reduction and counter-terrorism across London. Since leaving the police he has worked as a security and investigative consultant. He has stood for Reform UK in London before. At the May 2026 elections he was the party's candidate for Mayor of Lewisham, finishing third with 7,288 votes (8.4 per cent), and stood unsuccessfully in the Grove Park ward of the London Borough of Lewisham. His by-election campaign is focused on crime and policing, and he has criticised the Labour Party and the Mayor of London over public safety in the capital.