Election in the British Labor Party. Somali refugee in former Prime Minister's seat

Labor Party candidate Sagal Abdi-Wali won the by-election in the Holborn and St Pancras constituency in London, which was vacated by former Prime Minister and former Labor Party leader Keir Starmer's resignation from parliament.

15 candidates competed in the by-election, which was held after Starmer resigned as prime minister in July 2026 and also resigned as a member of the House of Commons on September 1.

Reaching 12 thousand 292 votes with the support of 45.17 percent of the voters, 42-year-old Abdi-Wali became the first British MP of Somali origin to enter the parliament.

Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, who is Abdi-Wali's strongest rival, remained at 32.81 percent with 8 thousand 928 votes.

With this result, the seat in the constituency remained with the Labor Party.

Abdi-Wali, who was born in Somalia in 1984 and came to the UK with his family as a child refugee, escaping the civil war in the early 1990s, grew up in the Camden district of London.

Abdi-Wali, who volunteered and managed local associations for more than ten years and served as an administrator in two schools, worked as a housing officer at Camden Municipality.

In his political career, Abdi-Wali was elected as a member of Camden City Council in 2022, and was appointed to the cabinet responsible for housing policy in 2024, during which he managed the £670 million social housing improvement program.

Abdi-Wali took over the leadership of Camden Regional Council in May 2026.

Speaking to the BBC after his election victory, Abdi-Wali stated that the housing crisis is a big problem in Camden, London and across the country and that this crisis will be his main field of work.

Noting that the way out of the crisis is through building more social and accessible housing, Abdi-Wali stated that the government agrees with him on this issue.

Advocating that the water distribution company Thames Water be brought back into public ownership, Abdi-Wali stated that the opportunities offered to young people are among his priorities.

In his speech after the vote count, Abdi-Wali emphasized that the main factor that pushed him into politics was the issue of homelessness and said, "Camden provided me with a community and instilled belief in social justice, equality and equity. Now having the privilege of representing this community in parliament is a responsibility that I will carry with great pride and humility."

Prime Minister Andy Burnham congratulated Abdi-Wali on his successful election campaign and noted that he looked forward to working together.

Former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who handed over his seat, also stated that he welcomed the result.

Starmer announced that he would focus on global topics such as defence, security, trade and technology and continue his work to combat violence against women when he left his seat as a member of parliament.