Lambeth Vote Palestine – which candidates to vote for in your ward
A new national campaign has gone live with the full list of council candidates who have committed, if elected, to push their councils to divest pension funds from companies complicit …
Black News 
A new national campaign has gone live with the full list of council candidates who have committed, if elected, to push their councils to divest pension funds from companies complicit in Israel’s violations of international law.
The Candidate Pledge for Palestine is part of the Vote Palestine 2026 coalition, which had it’s Lambeth launch in Brixton this February. The Karibu Centre event was supported by Jewish Voice for Liberation – formerly Jewish Voice for Labour, which renamed itself over ‘Labour’s complicity in the genocide’. Guest speakers included veteran anti-apartheid campaigner Andrew Feinstein.
The pledge asks council candidates to commit, as councillors, to:
- Uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
- Support efforts to prevent, and ensure accountability for, Israel’s crimes of genocide, military occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
- Ensure their council is not complicit in and does not help to normalise Israel’s violations of international law, including through the council divesting pensions and any other funds it administers from complicit companies and through its procurement policies.
Six of the Lambeth signatories – standing in wards across the borough – spoke to Brixton Buzz about why they signed the pledge and what they would do if elected as councillors.
Their words follow:
Martin Abrams, Streatham Hill East
I signed the Lambeth pledge for Palestine because as an anti-Zionist Jewish person I always stand with the oppressed and never the oppressor and as we watch in horror at the genocide and apartheid in Palestine livestreamed to us it is vital for us to use our voice to stand up and speak out because never again must mean never again for everyone.
40 Years ago Lambeth Council published it’s charter against South African Apartheid which still hangs in the Mayors parlor.
Local Councils were instrumental in the South African boycott campaign and if I am reelected I will work with the Lambeth community to produce a charter against Israeli genocide and apartheid to divest and boycott from any and all companies complicit in Israel’s oppression and illegal occupation of the Palestinian people.
– Martin Abrams, Green Party candidate, Streatham Hill East.
So far the pledge has been signed by 53 candidates standing in 23 Lambeth wards (the full list of Lambeth and National signatories is available at the end of the article).
Laura Graham, St Martin’s
I didn’t hesitate to sign the Pledge for Palestine.
Last year I, along with 5,000 other Lambeth residents, signed a petition telling Lambeth Council to divest from a pension scheme that feeds Israel’s genocide of Palestinian people. They ignored the petition.
If I become a Councillor, I will fight for those voices to be heard and we will divest the pension scheme from companies complicit in the genocide.
Additionally, I will insist that any future procurement processes adhere to a framework that ensures that Lambeth Council money does not support genocide in the future.
We must uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and ensure accountability for Israel’s crimes of genocide, occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.
– Laura Graham – Your Party supported Independent candidate, St Martin’s.
Ruby Bukhari, Acre Lane
I signed the Palestine pledge because I believe in justice, dignity, and equal rights for all.
If elected to Lambeth Council, I will push the council to call for an immediate ceasefire, that our council reflects our community’s values, and secure the divestment of Lambeth’s pension fund from companies directly linked to the genocide in Gaza.
– Ruby Bukhari, Shake It Up, Independent, Brixton Acre Lane.
Zviko Chihoro, Rush Common
“I signed the Palestine pledge because silence is not an option.
What is happening in Gaza is wrong, anyone can see that.
As someone born in Zimbabwe whose parents lived through Gukurahundi, I know what oppression looks like. If elected, I will always use my platform to speak out against injustice, wherever it occurs.
Like Joshua Nkomo, who continued to speak truth to power at great personal cost, I believe that using your voice for what is right is never pointless no matter how small the stage.
If elected, I will push for divestment of all of Lambeth‘s pension funds from companies complicit in the genocide.”
– Zviko Chihoro, Green Party candidate, Brixton Rush Common.
Lisa Schulkind, Knight’s Hill
I have signed the PfP because I am appalled and heartbroken at the ongoing killing of civilians, including children, in Gaza, in contravention of international law and of any sense of moral justice.
Keir Starmer’s government, unbelievably, is still selling lethal weapons to Israel which are used in Gaza.
As a human being and Green Party candidate I wholeheartedly oppose and condemn this.
If elected, the Green Party in Lambeth would push for divestment of Lambeth pension funds from companies complicit in the genocide and look to terminate Council contracts with companies which are also complicit.
And publicly condemn the genocide in Gaza.
– Lisa Schulkind, Green Party, Knights Hill
Chloe Hawryluk, Gipsy Hill
“I first went to a protest in support of the Palestinian people when I was 12, and 11 years later it’s absolutely horrific that we’re still witnessing a genocide unfolding right in front of our eyes, and seeing our own councils help enable it.
If elected, I will work with the Green group to divest away from any complicity, ensuring that no funds are funnelled into enabling this genocide.”
– Chloe Hawryluk – Green Party, Gipsy Hill.
The pledge campaign lands at a moment of sustained local pressure on Lambeth Council to act on its Local Government Pension Scheme, which campaign research has identified as holding £52.4 million in investments linked to companies complicit in Israel’s actions.
In January Lambeth’s Labour led council took 60 days to reject a Lambeth 4 Divestment petition, backed by Lambeth Unison which had gathered over 5,000 signatures calling on the council to divest.
Lambeth’s constitution requires petitions to be acknowledged within two working days and given a fuller response within ten working days.
According to the Green Party’s Martin Abrams: “The motion that was eventually passed removed any reference to genocide or divestment, unconstitutionally negating the purpose of our motion”.
Vote Palestine 2026 is also asking voters to sign a People’s Pledge, committing to only consider council candidates who have signed the Candidate Pledge for Palestine.
