George Galloway contests Holborn and St Pancras by-election from abroad

George Galloway is contesting Thursday’s Holborn and St Pancras parliamentary by-election in London without having visited the UK during the campaign, according to a Guardian report published on 7 October. Camden Council lists him as the Workers Party candidate for the 8 October poll. His absence means local campaigning has been carried out without the candidate in the constituency.

Galloway describes himself as being in ‘self-exile’ after he and his wife were questioned by counter-terrorism police at Gatwick airport last year, the Guardian reports. That is his account of his absence. The reporting does not establish that he is legally barred from returning to the UK.

Where Galloway has been during the campaign

The Guardian says Galloway has spent recent weeks on a speaking tour in South Africa. It identified his latest public appearance before its report as a pro-Palestine rally in Cape Town on Saturday 3 October. Posts in the 24 hours before publication suggested he was in Shanghai, according to the newspaper, but those posts do not independently confirm his location.

Before travelling to South Africa, Galloway had been in Moscow, the Guardian reports. The paper says he spoke there about his opposition to Ukraine and NATO and his support for Palestine. He has also used online posts to address the by-election, including one in September that described the path towards a wider war in Ukraine as the contest’s biggest issue.

Who is standing in Holborn and St Pancras

Camden Council’s official notice names Galloway among the nominated candidates and gives his address as being in the Dumfries and Galloway constituency. It also lists Sagal Abdi-Wali for Labour and Zack Polanski for the Green Party, along with other candidates. The Guardian characterises the contest as principally between Abdi-Wali and Polanski; that assessment is not an election result.

The seat was formerly held by Keir Starmer. ITV News London reported in September that his resignation as an MP triggered the by-election and that 15 candidates were standing. Camden says polling is scheduled for Thursday 8 October, from 7am until 10pm. Until votes are counted, neither the winner nor any effect of Galloway’s absence on voters can be established.

Can a candidate stand while outside the UK?

The Electoral Commission’s guidance on parliamentary candidate qualifications says a person must be at least 18 and be a British, Irish or eligible Commonwealth citizen. It says there is no legal requirement to be a registered UK elector. The guidance therefore does not make living in the constituency, or attending it during a campaign, a condition of standing. Galloway’s appearance on Camden’s nominated-candidates list confirms that he is on the ballot.

The eligibility guidance predates this election; it is not a new rule introduced for the by-election. A candidate’s ability to stand and a voter’s view of a candidate’s absence are separate matters. The latter will be tested at the ballot box on Thursday, alongside voters’ judgments about the other candidates and their campaigns.

What happened at Gatwick in 2025

The Independent reported that Galloway and his wife were stopped at Gatwick on 27 September 2025 after travel involving Moscow. It quoted a Metropolitan Police statement saying counter-terrorism officers had stopped a man in his 70s and a woman in her 40s under Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. The Workers Party identified Galloway as the man stopped.

The police said neither person was arrested and both were allowed on their way, according to The Independent. The Guardian reports that Galloway and his wife faced no further legal action. Galloway’s description of himself as in exile should be read alongside those facts: the available reporting does not identify an official restriction preventing his return.

Galloway’s physical absence is the unusual feature of this campaign, but the confirmed immediate event is the vote itself. Camden’s notice sets out when electors can vote and who is standing. The Guardian’s account records campaigning by party activists and Galloway’s online messages; it does not establish how many voters those efforts have reached or how they will affect the result.