London, United Kingdom– At a meeting organised by a Muslim group in London ahead of a closely watched by-election, candidates from the Green and Liberal Democrat parties made their cases to residents beside empty seats. Their Labour and Conservative peers did not turn up. Labour candidate Sagal Abdi Wali, a Somali-Muslim woman, told The Guardian she did not attend because she had a prior obligation and the invite had come too late.
But the organiser, the Camden Muslim Network, pushed back, saying that she was invited earlier. Fifteen candidates are in the race for former Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s old seat, including Green Party leader, Zack Polanski, who hopes to become a member of parliament. Since the seat was created in Holborn and St Pancras in 1983, the Labour Party has held it.
Starmer was first elected in 2015 and held it until his resignation, which triggered the by-election. At the meeting, the conversation ranged from local issues such as housing to Israel and Palestine. Lib Dem candidate Patrick Stillman said his party had long called for Palestinian statehood but would not support a full boycott.
In leaflets sent to constituency residents, the Green Party focused on Abdi-Wali’s time as a Labour councillor and, more recently, as leader of Camden council – a role she secured in May. One reads: “Bring change, Replace Labour, Vote Green”. On its reverse: “Every single Camden Labour councillor refused to sign the Palestine solidarity pledge or support pension fund divestment.
Only Greens continue to stand firm on Palestine.” Last month, Abdi-Wali spoke to the Camden New Journal, a local newspaper, about Gaza and the Green Party’s leaflets. It was “obviously inaccurate” to say the Labour council did not feel strongly about the issue, she told the paper. Abdi-Wali, then a Labour councillor, did not support the motion.
Rather than committing to divestment, most councillors voted to refer the question to the pension board for review. Like many London constituencies, a key issue is housing. According to a “2026 state of the borough” report by Camden council, 8,380 households were on the waiting list for social housing at the end of March 2025, “an increase of 9.5 percent on the year before.” On Friday, in the constituency’s more affluent area of Primrose Hill, one resident said they would vote for Labour in the upcoming election, while another believed that regardless of who wins, life will not change.
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