Sagal Abdi-Wali, Labour's candidate for the Holborn and St Pancras byelection, says she has no ambition to be prime minister or lead her party. The 42-year-old Camden council leader laughed and shook her head when asked if she wanted to follow Keir Starmer, the constituency's last MP.
"No, no, no, no, that's not at all, in any way, what I'm trying to do," she said during a break in campaigning in the Primrose Hill cafe in Regent's Park. "I'm literally trying to get through the next few weeks and trying to be the member of parliament for this constituency, and that's all I care about."
Visible, committed, and local
Abdi-Wali returns to this message with "ruthless discipline" ahead of the byelection on 8 October. It features on her campaigning material and is brought up by every door-knocking Labour activist, each mention an implicit comparison with her high-profile opponent, Zack Polanski of the Green party.
"All I've done, all my life, is be a committed champion for people here," said Abdi-Wali. "Whether it's volunteering as a teenager or being a councillor, and all the work I did in between, that's all I've ever done. All I want to be is someone who will be visible and local and committed every single day."
High-stakes byelection
The byelection was triggered after Starmer, the former prime minister, was removed by his own MPs and quit the seat to focus on international affairs. The constituency is young, popular with students, and diverse: about 45% of constituents were born overseas and 48% are aged between 18 and 34, compared with the UK average of 28%. Labour's majority was cut in half from 2019 to the 2024 general election.
"All things being equal, Labour win," said Luke Tryl of More in Common. "But if Polanski can excite his base enough, and tap into some on the soft left who see it as a way to keep Burnham true, then the Greens could nick it."
Gaza and local concerns
Polanski is flooding the area with members, focusing heavily on Gaza and delivering leaflets saying no Labour councillor has taken up an invitation to sign a statement of solidarity with Palestine. Green activists have also highlighted that Abdi-Wali did not attend a Camden Muslim Network hustings on Tuesday, which she says was due to a last-minute invitation and a prior obligation.
Abdi-Wali said she welcomed the foreign secretary's decision to call Israel's occupation of the West Bank unlawful and announce sweeping sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements. "People have seen what's been happening over the last three years – the 70,000 Palestinians killed by the Israeli government and the atrocities of Hamas on October 7th," she said. "In our communities we've seen a rise in hate and we've been doing a lot of work in making sure those communities feel supported."
Personal journey and motivation
Abdi-Wali arrived in London in the early 90s speaking no English, after fleeing war in Somalia with her four brothers and her mother, who trained as a lawyer in Somalia. She moved to Gospel Oak at age seven, and her father later joined the family. Her mother, a community activist, inspired her, she said.
She said she was pushed to join the Labour party in 2015 by seeing a rise in homelessness around King's Cross. "In the 2000s it was almost eradicated, but when I came back to Camden from university, homelessness was really rampant," she said. "It was a political choice … I realised it needed political solutions."
Housing is a big concern in the constituency, where 76% of residents rent, compared with the UK average of 36%. Abdi-Wali is wary of rent controls, saying they can help those already in housing but reduce the availability of stock for others. "It's not a solution for the vast majority of people," she said. "But I think everything should be looked at as an option to see how we can really tackle the housing crisis."
Abdi-Wali admitted she was unsure about putting her name forward, but a nudge from Reform UK's home affairs spokesperson, Zia Yusuf, who wrote on social media that she was being "foisted" on the people of Holborn despite being "born in Somalia", helped tip the balance. "It was more that I think people like me should be in this arena," she said. "And wanting to make sure that young people that look like me – or don't look like me – can understand that it's not just divisive, hateful rhetoric that gets you here. Actually just being a local person committed to your community and wanting to do better for it can also do that."
