With the Holborn & St Pancras by-election rapidly approaching, Streets Kitchen, along with other frontline organisations, has invited candidates from across the political spectrum to our independent Housing & Homelessness Hustings this Tuesday at 11a Pratt Street.
This hustings is being run in strict accordance with Electoral Commission guidance: it is an independent, non-partisan platform designed to give every candidate an equal opportunity to present their policies. We are not interested in traps or rehearsed soundbites—we genuinely want to hear every candidate’s concrete plans to resolve the housing emergency facing our community.
Yet with just days to go, several campaigns have failed to provide a straight answer or confirm their attendance.
The question our community is asking is simple: what are the candidates running from?
Recent investigations have laid bare the acute failure taking place across our borough. As reported by North West Londoner, Camden recorded a 23% increase in rough sleeping—the sharpest proportional rise in London—despite over £78 million being allocated toward homelessness services.
Where is that public money actually going?
The Museum of Homelessness’s Dying Homeless Project revealed that Camden has the fourth-highest homeless death rate in the UK, with at least 22 people losing their lives whilst experiencing homelessness in the borough in a single twelve-month period. Most did not freeze on the pavement; they often died indoors, tucked away in unsupported emergency accommodation and neglected temporary hostels.
Instead of treating these life-threatening failures as an emergency or resolving severe disrepair and toxic mould on local estates, the borough renewed a £60,000 contract for police officers to sweep away rough sleeper encampments.
You cannot arrest, fine, or sweep away a housing crisis.
Every candidate asking to represent Holborn & St Pancras in Parliament must be prepared to address this reality. Doorstep canvassing and filtered party literature are no substitute for standing before local residents, tenants, frontline outreach teams, and unhoused neighbours.
Our doors remain open. We expect every candidate on the ballot to turn up, take their seat, share their vision, and face the community they are asking to represent.
Notable exceptions so far have been the Green Party and the Workers Party.
Event Details
- Event: Holborn & St Pancras Housing & Homelessness Hustings
- Date: Tuesday, 6 October
- Time: Doors open 19:15
- Location: 11a Pratt Street, NW1 0AE
- Chair: Bríd Doherty (Senior Associate, Housing Law, Hodge Jones & Allen)