Palestine hunger striker to contest local council seat in May

Amu Gib will stand as one of three Islington Community Independents candidates in the Finsbury Park ward.

Islington Community Independents (ICI) have announced that they will be standing hunger striker Amu Gib in the May local council election. Amu took part in the recent Prisoners for Palestine hunger strike which ended with the government deciding not to award a £2bn contract to the arms company, Elbit Systems UK. Amu was on hunger strike for more than 50 days. They remain in prison at HMP Bronzefield.

Amu will be one of three ICI candidates for the Finsbury Park ward, where they went to primary, secondary school and college. Their family resides there. Palestine is a huge issue in Islington – it’s home to Jeremy Corbyn, the mosques have been very active and there is a strong and active branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Before they were imprisoned Amu was a local activist.

ICI are standing Amu because they believe that Gaza is one of the defining political issues of our day. They argue that the campaign is not a stunt but a serious intervention in local politics. As a councillor, Amu will be more tenacious in representing their constituents – demanding repairs and everything else – than any other candidate. But the campaign is also about foregrounding the issue of political prisoners and breaking the media silence on how Palestine activists are being held on remand without bail. One local activist we talked to stated that the involvement of new layers of people in the campaign is helping activists make connections between the politics of Palestine and local issues like housing, to the benefit of both.

Amu is not a convicted prisoner; they have not been tried or sentenced. They are being held in prison as an administrative convenience for the state. Selection, and then election, will give Amu opportunities to discuss bail applications with their solicitor. The usual argument for refusing bail is that a defendant might attempt to flee. Nothing shows Amu’s long-term commitment to their home area better than their decision to put themselves forward as a candidate for election (and their success in persuading a registered political party to adopt them). 

If Amu remains incarcerated on remand, their friends and family will demand that the council makes facilities available for online attendance (as it would if a councillor was ill). They will demand that the prison estate permits Amu to use the internet to attend council meetings and meet constituents in surgeries. Amu wants to represent their electors. The prison system pretends prisoners have vanished; ICI insist on seeing them as full human beings.

ICI currently have four councillors. The group was formed in 2024 when a group of councillors defected from the Labour Party. It has the support of local independent MP Jeremy Corbyn. Many of the ICI members are also members of Your Party. Another local activist we spoke to believes that the campaign to elect Amu offers an opportunity to demonstrate how ICI differs from the Labour Party. She said:

This has sparked something in the organisation and is politicising people in a really positive way. It’s a big shift and could have an important impact on the development of the left in Islington. Standing a prisoner on remand who represents an issue that has had huge resonance in British society is a radical break from the more traditional view of local politics as being about drains and bins and local services.

ICI decided a few months ago to continue as a separate organisation and contest the May elections. This reflects the fact they already have seats on the council but also the fact that Your Party branches are yet to be formally established. Whether they plan to continue indefinitely or eventually dissolve themselves into Your Party remains a decision for the future.

Electing Amu as an Islington councillor will have a big impact on the left in the area and further afield and will demonstrate that Palestine is an issue where the establishment at every level has failed to represent the views of the electorate.