George Galloway, leader of the Workers party of Britain, is standing in this week’s Holborn and St Pancras byelection in London without having set foot in the UK since the campaign began. According to The Guardian, he has been abroad in what he calls “self-exile” since counter-terrorism police questioned him at Gatwick airport a year ago.
What happened
The Holborn and St Pancras seat was formerly held by Keir Starmer, and voters go to the polls on Thursday. The Guardian reports that the contest is seen as a battle between Labour’s Sagal Abdi-Wali and Zack Polanski, who is standing for the Greens. Galloway, who has been elected to parliament seven times, is trying for an eighth win. The Guardian describes this attempt as his most curious one yet.
His social media accounts show that he spent the past few weeks on a speaking tour in South Africa. His most recent public appearance was at a pro-Palestine rally in Cape Town on Saturday, although posts from the last 24 hours suggest he is now in Shanghai, China. Before South Africa he was in Moscow. The Guardian reports that he was selected as the Workers party candidate on 14 September, one day after he took part in a public discussion in Moscow with Zakhar Prilepin, a pro-war author who has fought in Ukraine.
Because he is abroad, Galloway’s only way of reaching voters personally is online. In mid-September he wrote on X that “the biggest issue in the H&StP byelection is the path leading us to WW3 in Ukraine”. The Guardian says this argument has not gained much traction with voters. Small groups of Workers party activists have been campaigning in the constituency without him. At the end of September Galloway thanked them for “performing miracles on the ground in my enforced absence”.
Galloway says he left the UK after he and his wife, Putri Gayatri Pertiwi, were stopped at Gatwick in September last year. In his account, five armed police officers held them for a total of 11 hours after they returned from the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod. The stop was made under schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, which allows police to detain people to find out whether they have been involved in hostile activity. The Guardian notes that investigators consider this a low bar. Neither Galloway nor his wife faced any further legal action.
Galloway also said last month that the Lloyds-owned Bank of Scotland had closed his accounts without explanation, and he threatened legal action. The bank said it would not comment on individual cases. A spokesperson said its policy is not to close a customer’s account based on political or personal beliefs.
During the campaign he has directed much of his criticism at Polanski, his most obvious rival for political support. On 25 September he posted that he was “with Russia” while Polanski was “with NATO”. Earlier this month he also posted an image attacking the prime minister, Andy Burnham, dressed in the colours of Ukraine.
Why it matters if you live in United Kingdom
The campaign shows how Britain’s rules on who can stand for parliament actually work. As The Guardian explains, citing the Electoral Commission, any British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen over 18 may stand. The main exceptions are people who are bankrupt and members of the police, the armed forces, the civil service or the judiciary. Candidates do not need to be registered electors, and there is no residency requirement. This means a candidate can run for a seat in the House of Commons while living outside the country and without visiting the constituency at all.
If you are from Ireland or a Commonwealth country and follow British politics, this matters. These rules apply to citizens of those countries as well as to British nationals, so they cover a wider group than many newcomers expect.
The story also touches on two issues that affect more people than a single candidate. The first is border policing: schedule 3 stops can happen at UK airports, and they can include copying the contents of phones. Galloway told the broadcaster RT that officers “took all our stuff and copied everything on our phones”. The second is account closures. Bank of Scotland says closures of this kind are rare and that it tells customers when it decides to close an account.
If you live in Holborn and St Pancras, Thursday’s vote decides who will represent the constituency in parliament. The Guardian’s reporting suggests the main contest is between Labour and the Greens, with the Workers party running what it calls a peripheral campaign.
What to watch next
The result on Thursday will show whether a candidate who campaigns entirely from abroad can win meaningful support in a London seat. Galloway has told supporters that a win would mean he and his family “can come home”. It is also worth watching how far his focus on Russia and Ukraine shapes the share of the vote that goes to the Greens, since he has made Polanski his main target.
Galloway’s dispute with Lloyds over his closed accounts is also unresolved, and he has threatened legal action. The Guardian says it approached Galloway and the Workers party for comment.
Source: The Guardian
Sources
- The Guardian: George Galloway contests London byelection without setting foot in UK, accessed 7 October 2026
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