Full Breakdown
Holborn & St Pancras By-election: Identity politics and investment controversy
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
The by-election was triggered when Sir Keir Starmer announced he would stand down as MP for the constituency when Parliament returned on September 1. The contest, scheduled for October 8, pits Labour’s candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali against Green Party leader Zack Polanski, with more than a dozen additional candidates also standing.
Background & Context
Abdi-Wali arrived in the United Kingdom from Somalia as a child refugee in the 1990s and has served as a Camden councillor since 2022. A social-media narrative claimed she was an “asylum seeker,” but Full Fact clarified that she is not currently seeking asylum and meets the statutory eligibility to stand for Parliament.
During the campaign, Green Party nomination backer Emny Kadri accused Labour of a “slyly strategic” move in selecting a Black Muslim woman, framing the choice as identity-politics and linking Labour’s stance on the Gaza conflict to the candidate’s background.
Data & Statistics
Freedom of Information disclosures obtained by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) show that Camden Council’s holdings in Palantir Technologies grew from £276,444 to £3.65 million between October 2023 and December 2025 – an increase of over 1,200 %. The council’s overall exposure to companies identified by PSC as complicit in Israel’s violations rose from £104 million in June 2024 to £133.5 million by the end of 2025, a near-30 % increase.
The council’s Local Government Pension Fund held £28 million in shares of firms linked to Israeli actions as of mid-2024, and an audit completed in December 2025 found £15.9 million of holdings across 46 companies flagged for significant human-rights concerns.
Official Statements & Responses
A Green Party spokesperson said Kadri’s remarks reflected personal views as a Lebanese Muslim resident and were not the party’s position.
Camden Council responded that it remains “open and transparent” about pension investments and is committed to “responsible investment principles,” noting that changes to portfolio allocations can take time due to broader pooling arrangements.
Labour business secretary Jonathan Reynolds described criticism of the Labour candidate as “straightforward racism.”
The Green Party urged members to cancel conference attendance to focus on campaigning for Polanski during the “crucial final weekend” of the by-election.
Criticism & Opposition
Lewis Backon, campaigns officer for the PSC, called it “beyond shameful” that Camden continues to channel workers’ deferred wages into companies enabling alleged genocide in Gaza.
Awale Olad, a Labour councillor, said, “I alone stood up and spoke out against the horrifying situation [in Gaza].”
Fiyaz Mughal, founder of Faith Matters, warned that stereotyping Muslims as a monolithic political bloc is “toxic.”
Reform UK and its home-affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf criticised Abdi-Wali’s background, prompting Reynolds to label the remarks as racist.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Social-media posts alleged that Abdi-Wali was an asylum seeker, a claim contradicted by Full Fact’s verification that she holds British nationality and is not seeking asylum.
A review of Abdi-Wali’s public statements found no commentary on Gaza between October 7 2023 and her selection as Labour candidate, and she did not sign the PSC’s Candidate Pledge on divestment, leaving a gap in her publicly documented stance on the issue.
What’s Next
The Holborn & St Pancras by-election will take place on October 8. No further scheduled events related to the investment controversy or candidate statements have been announced.