‘The real deal’: Sagal Abdi-Wali’s journey from child refugee to Labour MP in former PM’s seat

Decades of volunteering combined with years of active local party politics, propels Abdi-Wali to victory over Green leader Zack Polanski For Sagal Abdi-Wali, the new MP for Holborn and St Pancras, being elected to replace Keir Starmer in the north London constituency is “deeply personal”, she said in her acceptance speech. The 43-year-old has lived in the area since the 1990s when, as a seven-year-old, she fled war-torn Somalia with her mother and four brothers, eventually settling in Gospel Oak in Camden, which largely falls within the constituency. Her journey from refugee to member of…