Labour has selected Camden Council leader Sagal Abdi-Wali as its candidate in the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, filling the vacancy left by Sir Keir Starmer's departure from the Commons. The selection was confirmed on Wednesday evening, just over four weeks before polling day on 8 October.
The contest is the first by-election in a Labour-held seat since Andy Burnham became prime minister, and Labour faces an unusually serious challenge from its left in a seat it held with almost half the vote two years ago. Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, has said he intends to stand, but has yet to be selected and faces a challenge for the nomination.
Accounts of how the Labour candidate was chosen differ. The Press Association reported that Abdi-Wali was one of three Camden councillors shortlisted, and that she beat Nasrine Djemai, the council's cabinet member for new homes and community investment, and its finance chief Camron Aref-Adib. The Evening Standard reported that she was selected by Labour's National Executive Committee.
In a statement issued after the meeting, Abdi-Wali said: "I am delighted that local members have put their trust in me to be Labour's candidate in the area I've grown up in.
"This place welcomed my family as refugees and gave us hope when we needed it most. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to build a life here, serving our community as a councillor, school governor, and community activist."
Abdi-Wali has been a Labour councillor for Camden Square since 2022 and became leader of the council in May, after her predecessor Richard Olszewski lost his seat at the borough elections. She came to Britain from Somalia as a child refugee in the early 1990s and is Camden's first Black woman council leader.
Her prospective candidacy became the subject of a political row last week after Zia Yusuf, Reform UK's home affairs spokesman, posted on X: "The front runner being foisted on the people of Holborn by Labour to replace the former Prime Minister Keir Starmer in our Parliament was born in Somalia. Do you understand what's happening?"
Asked about the post on Sky News's Sunday Morning programme, the Cabinet minister Jonathan Reynolds said: "Pretty straightforward racism, isn't it?"
Sir Keir announced on 1 September that he would stand down after 11 years as MP for the constituency, telling the Camden New Journal that it was the "right time" to leave the Commons and that he was ready to "pass the baton to a successor". He said he would focus on international affairs, including defence, security, trade and technology. He resigned as Labour leader and prime minister in the summer, and was succeeded by Burnham in July.
At the 2024 general election Sir Keir held the seat with 18,884 votes, or 48.9 per cent, ahead of the independent Andrew Feinstein on 18.9 per cent and the Green candidate on 10.4 per cent. Feinstein, who founded the local Camden People's Alliance, has ruled out standing again.
The Greens polled strongly in Camden in May, when Labour lost a third of its council seats while narrowly retaining its majority. The party's local members meet on Thursday to choose between Polanski and Hamza Chowdhury, the Green councillor for Holborn and Covent Garden, with the result due on Friday. Chowdhury has said the constituency does not need another MP who "makes a few promises and disappears once the votes are counted".
The Workers Party of Britain has selected Hussain Shafiei and Restore Britain has said it will field a candidate. Liberal Democrat applications close at noon on Friday, and the Conservatives have yet to announce a candidate. The full field will be settled when Camden Council publishes its statement of persons nominated.
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