What was claimed
Somali asylum seeker Sagal Abdi-Wali has been chosen as Labour's candidate for the upcoming by-election in Holborn and St Pancras.
Our verdict
This is misleading. Ms Abdi-Wali is Labour’s candidate for this by-election but she is not currently seeking asylum. She came to the UK from Somalia as a child refugee in the 1990s and is now listed as having British nationality.
A number of social media users have shared the misleading claim that the leader of Camden Council Sagal Abdi-Wali, Labour’s candidate in the upcoming Holborn and St Pancras by-election, is a Somali asylum seeker.
Ms Abdi-Wali has spoken about coming to the UK from Somalia as a child refugee in the 1990s, but she is now listed on Companies House as having British nationality. She is not currently seeking asylum.
Posts making the claim have been shared more than a thousand times across X, Facebook and Instagram, with some questioning the eligibility of “non-citizens” or “foreigners” to stand in UK elections.
To stand as a candidate in a UK parliamentary election you need to be at least 18 years old and be either a British citizen, a citizen of the Republic of Ireland, or a citizen of a Commonwealth country who either does not require leave to enter or remain in the UK, or has indefinite leave to remain in the UK.
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Before sharing content like this, it’s important to consider whether it comes from a trustworthy source. Our misinformation toolkit contains tips on how to do this.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because Ms Abdi-Wali came to the UK from Somalia as a child refugee in the 1990s and has British nationality.
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