Andrew Feinstein delivers his speech on Tuesday morning

AN independent candidate launched a campaign directly challenging Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday morning – warning that people shouldn’t swap “one Conservative government with another”.

Andrew Feinstein, who was an MP in the first post-apartheid government in South Africa working under Nelson Mandela in the ANC before moving to Camden more than 20 years ago, said he had been urged to stand by people seeking a left-wing alternative on the ballot paper.

In a 20-minute speech to supporters and press, Mr Feinstein said that if he was an MP he would consult all constituents in Holborn and St Pancras before any major vote in parliament.

He has strong links to Camden’s Palestine solidarity groups, but said that his candidacy was not a single-issue challenge.

Asked what he would say to left-wing voters who feared any ballot other than for Labour might risk letting the Tories back in, he told the New Journal: “I think anybody who under­stands anything about politics will know that the chances of the Tories staying in government are virtually zero at this point.

“But you don’t want to replace one Conservative government with another Conservative gover­nment.”

The event was held at the P21 Gallery in Chalton Street, Somers Town.

“Unfortunately, through his politics, Keir Starmer has given so many indications that he might not be the best person to lead a transformational government in this country – and that’s what the country needs a transformational government,” said Mr Feinstein. “Not business as usual, not just changing the tie of the guy in the suit at the despatch box from blue to red, but actually changing the fundamental nature of the politics.”

He added: “We do have a responsibility to improve our democracy, to get money out of politics, because how do we know who our representatives are actually representing when they are getting millions of pounds of donations to their parties from billionaires.”

Mr Feinstein has been a regular at Gaza protests in Camden and among the demands for a permanent ceasefire – and was fiercely critical of Israel at his campaign launch.

He said during his speech he could not believe that Mr Starmer had not commented on the International Criminal Court’s announcement this week that they were issuing a warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The same prosecutors have also accused three Hamas leaders of war crimes.

The New Journal asked Mr Feinstein what he said to those who feel the atrocities of October 7 are too often overlooked and talked about insensitively in north London.

He said if people “did not have empathy then they had lost their humanity”, but added “it doesn’t decrease your sympathy or your empathy for those human beings because you understand the political context”.

Mr Feinstein said: “One of the things I want this campaign to do is to show people that it’s acceptable for people to talk out in support of the Palestinian people, that it’s acceptable to be critical of the state of Israel ­– that is not being critical of Jewish people.”

He added: “Let’s not forget that 76 per cent of people in this country want a ceasefire, and not one of our primary politicians is calling for that, not one.”

Mr Feinstein is Jewish himself and said it was particularly offensive to be called anti-Semitic in regards to his position on Israel and Palestine, as his mother was a Holocaust survivor who had “to live for three and a half years in a coal cellar”, adding: “Every time there was a raid in the area, she was rolled into a carpet and the carpet put up against the wall. She lost dozens of her family in Auschwitz.”

He said he would campaign for more housing, to tackle poverty and to meet the climate emergency. While a host of independent candidates are likely to stand in Holborn and St Pancras at the July 4 general election due to Mr Starmer’s profile, not many will kick off with a campaign launch like this.

Supporters raised £30,000 online when the suggestion of standing against Mr Starmer was first raised and volunteers are expected to come in from Camden and further afield. It is one of Labour’s strongest territories and Mr Starmer commanded a majority of more than 27,000 at the last election.

Asked whether it had been incumbent for left-wingers to stay in the Labour Party and ‘win the argument’ internally over policy, Mr Feinstein said he had been a member up until recently but many people “no longer felt welcome” and that many others had been expelled due to an “authoritarian” control.

Charlie Clinton is the Lib Dem candidate and David Stansell is standing in the constituency for the Greens. The Tories have yet to announce who will be on the ballot paper for them.