Sagal Abdi-Wali elected as first British Somali MP

Summarised from BBC London's report · Updated 9 Oct, 12:25 · Archive

Sagal Abdi-Wali won the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, becoming the first British Somali MP.

Sagal Abdi-Wali won Thursday's Holborn and St Pancras by-election, becoming the first British Somali MP. The 42-year-old came to the UK from Somalia as a child refugee in the 1990s and grew up in Camden, where she worked as a housing officer for the council. She was elected as a councillor in 2022 and became leader of Camden Council in May.

Abdi-Wali has worked as a volunteer and trustee for local charities for more than a decade, including as a school governor at two schools. Prior to becoming council leader, she served as cabinet member for better homes, overseeing a £670m programme for improvements to social housing stock.

Speaking after her victory, Abdi-Wali said homelessness drove her into politics and pledged to work on housing every day. She said the only way to resolve the housing crisis was to build more social and affordable homes across all tenures.

Read the report

• MP Sagal Abdi-Wali makes housing her prioritySagal Abdi-Wali came to the UK as a child refugee with her family and grew up in Camden.BBC London · 9 Oct, 11:31

In this story: Sagal Abdi-Wali · Somerset · Somalia · Camden Council · Camden · London

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