• ON Monday nearly 500 members of Holborn & St Pancras Constituency Labour Party attended our leadership nomination meeting.

On first ballot Sir Keir Starmer was nominated with 331 votes, 74 per cent of the ballot. The result came as no surprise. Sir Keir’s popularity was evident on the doorstep, not just in Camden but wherever our members canvassed during the general election.

Whether on an estate in Somers Town or Stoke-on-Trent, from Barnet to Yorkshire, I personally had a number of conversations with voters, particularly in marginal seats, who would commonly, and unprompted, refrain “You’d have my vote if Keir was your leader”.

Our CLP now has 4,335 members, a modern record for us, with over 1,000 having joined since the general election.

I was proud last week to be re-elected as chair of our CLP, alongside officers who represent the diversity of the constituency in age, gender and ethnic background.

Labour is the greatest vehicle for change our country has ever seen. It was the party in power that allowed me and my family, like so many others here in Camden, to build a better life in this country.

The rise in inequality and intolerance all around us are the result of the Tory governments’ choices. They are an existential threat to our diverse and integrated communities, both here in Camden and the rest of our the country.

We simply cannot afford for the Tories to be in power for longer than the four-and-a-half years. That is why we need a rebuilt, strengthened, and united Labour Party more than ever.

I’m proud our CLP resoundingly supported Sir Keir to be the next leader of the Labour Party on Monday night. We have all seen first-hand his dedication to serving all of his constituents.

Over the last four years few things have inspired me more than working with him and watching him tackle the issues most pressing to our community with an ever-reassuring and statesman-like presence.

And his background as a human-rights lawyer taking effective action fighting on the right side of so many of the battles – from defending miners, print workers and environmental activists, to working on the Stephen Lawrence case, to taking on the might of the McDonald’s corporation – is a reminder that Sir Keir has committed his adult life to fighting injustice.

This is what makes him the better person to lead our party, win back the trust of the public, and build a better future for our country.

SAGAL ABDI-WALI
Chair, Holborn & St Pancras Constituency Labour Party