By-election in London: Camden calling

Sagal Abdi-Wali, 42, fled the war in Somalia to Britain at the age of seven. Today she is the council leader in the London borough of Camden. On Wednesday evening she was confirmed as Labor's candidate to succeed former Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the House of Commons.

Starmer's announcement that he would stand down as MP for the central London constituency of Holborn and St. Pancras triggered a by-election on October 8, 2026. The constituency covers the south-eastern part of Camden. If Abdi-Wali wins the by-election, she would be the first woman and only the second MP with a Somali family background in the British House of Commons.

As of the last census in 2021, a total of 176,645 people with a Somali family background lived in England and Wales. Around 70,000 of them live in London, including Camden. According to the census, 72 percent live in social housing and almost 60 percent live in overcrowded housing - far higher than the national average. However, social disadvantage is offset by self-help and a strong commitment to one's own community.

Abdi-Wali has also been active locally for many years, both in numerous organizations and as a board member of two state schools. Around 20 percent of the people in her constituency are Muslim. In 2022, she became a local councilor for Camden Square, the district where Amy Winehouse once lived. This commitment has a tradition in her family: her mother already founded an aid center for Somali refugees in Great Britain.

Abdi-Wali was only elected political leader of the London Borough of Camden in May. In this position, she leads the district's executive branch.

She is particularly interested in the construction and renovation of social housing as well as training and employment opportunities for children and young people growing up in Camden. They should benefit from this, among other things, through the growing “Knowledge Quarter”, a science and technology cluster around St Pancras and King’s Cross train stations. Google, Samsung and the Francis Crick Institute, among others, have settled there.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski could now contest her path to the lower house if his candidacy is confirmed by his party at the weekend. In the local elections in Camden, the Greens were able to take a number of seats from Labor, including the constituency of Abdi-Wali's predecessor at the head of the local authority.

Keir Starmer also suffered losses in the 2024 general election. Although he won the constituency with 48.9 percent of the vote, that was 17.4 percentage points less than in 2019. Among those who benefited from this was a left-wing independent candidate who ran with a pro-Palestinian platform. With Andy Burnham as the new Labor leader and prime minister and a more pro-Palestinian orientation, Labor could now win back votes.

“This place welcomed my family and gave us hope when we needed it most,” Abdi-Wali said after her nomination. She is grateful to have grown up in Camden and to be able to work for the people there today. She also sees her candidacy as an opportunity to give something back to the community.