Before I begin, I wanted to express my sincerest thanks to Tribune readers for their support over the past few weeks. I know many of you will have come down to support our campaign in Islington North or even wished us goodwill from afar. This campaign was not about me. It was about all of us — and I am so proud of what we achieved, together.

We would not have won without the dedication of literally thousands of people who gave up their time to spread our message across the constituency. We won because of a genuinely grassroots campaign that brought together people of all ages, faiths, and backgrounds. There is a reason why our campaign printed election material in eight different languages: Kurdish, Turkish, Greek, Spanish, French, Arabic, Somali, and Bengali. Islington North is an incredibly diverse constituency, made up of people who have come from all over the world to make this place their home.

People like Teme Teme Wanga. Years ago, I used to share an office building in Finsbury Park with Teme. In one room was our constituency casework team, helping Islington North residents with the many problems they faced. Next door was the Congolese Community Council, which provided support for Congolese refugees. Our offices worked together to ensure people could get the help they needed. Teme is — and always has been — a pillar of the Islington community, and there are countless people in Islington who owe him a debt of gratitude. I am proud to say that I am one of them.

During the election campaign, Teme spoke to hundreds of people to ask them to elect me as the Independent MP. He didn’t sign up to our campaign’s ‘phone-banking’ system. He didn’t need to. He had his own contact book and called up his friends and neighbours one by one. Teme has dedicated his life to offering advice to his community; no wonder they listened to him when he explained why they should put a cross next to my name.

Teme’s work was mirrored by the work of many in all communities. Contrary to what many are saying, we didn’t win this campaign in six weeks. Yes, we had to build our infrastructure from scratch. Yes, we started with no data. Yes, we mobilised the vote in an extraordinarily short space of time. However, the seeds of victory were planted long before. That’s because we drew on something far stronger than any last-minute campaign could hope to replicate. Something that took years to cultivate. Something that binds our diverse community together: international solidarity.

Take the Congolese communities here in Islington. It is only because I have listened to and learned from them that I am determined to see peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Nearly 7 million people have been internally displaced in the DRC and 26 million need humanitarian aid. One in three children are out of school. Tens of thousands of civilians experience physical, sexual, and gender-based violence, used as a tool of control and degradation. Meanwhile, the DRC remains one of the most underfunded operations of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) worldwide. That’s why I spoke out against the UK’s appalling asylum policy, which would have sent refugees to neighbouring country Rwanda, putting them at risk of persecution.

Remember, today’s humanitarian crisis in the DRC did not emerge out of nowhere. It is an enduring legacy of colonial theft, violence, and exploitation. As the MP for Islington North, I have an obligation to those in my community who are seeking justice. And I have a responsibility to speak out against the role that our country played — and continues to play — in creating the injustice in the first place.

Over the years, I have been accused of many things. One is that I pay too much attention to ‘fringe’ international issues, as if these issues take attention away from important problems at home. To me, this charge makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Our world is connected, and the actions we take here in the UK have a direct impact on the lives of those abroad.

There is no starker example of this than the UK’s role in the genocide in Gaza. Look at where other independents challenged the main parties most effectively. They built on community power to stand up against those who have ignored their demands to oppose this genocide. In Islington North, we were clear that Palestine was on the ballot — and that I would be a voice to stand up for the people of Palestine, their freedom, and their right to self-determination. That means, as a matter of urgency, demanding an immediate end to arms sales to Israel.

Our movement for Palestine is not new. It stands on the shoulders of those who know what it’s like to stand up to apartheid. Opposing apartheid in South Africa from Parliament often felt lonely. It never felt lonely in Islington. I remember Islington Council getting into trouble for flying the African National Congress (ANC) flag in the 1980s. They were ahead of their time. So, too, were the International Defence and Aid Fund for South Africa, based on Essex Road, which financed defence lawyers for South African political detainees.

Before that, while I was a councillor in Haringey, many of us were trying to raise awareness about the situation in Chile, which suffered a military coup in 1973. Allende was the democratically elected leader, but he had been overthrown by the Pinochet dictatorship. As a council, we did our utmost to house Chilean refugees, in between demonstrations outside the Chilean Embassy on Devonshire Street. The Chile Solidarity Campaign office was actually based on Seven Sisters Road. My office was upstairs. Theirs was downstairs, so I couldn’t have escaped them even if I’d wanted to. We went on marches together. We wrote parliamentary questions together. And, in 1990, we went to the Cambio de Mano together, to watch the formal ‘handover’ from military to civilian rule.

It is no coincidence that our very own Jimmy Bell, who came to the UK as a refugee from Chile, ended up being one of our lead canvassers during the election in Islington North. We won because of people like Jimmy. We won because second- and third-generation migrants from Bangladesh refused to be insulted by those in power. We won because people from all backgrounds and faiths were disgusted with the unfolding genocide in Gaza, and were determined to stand up for peace and humanity. We won because of international and community solidarity.

Of course, it wasn’t just about international issues. We campaigned for rent controls, for a fully public NHS, for fully funded education, and for an end to the two-child benefit cap. But the point is: social justice does not come at the expense of international justice. We fight for both for the same reasons: we are all human beings, who deserve to live in dignity, comfort, and peace.

Moving forward, we cannot forget this valuable lesson about the importance of international solidarity. We must build a new movement that is capable of challenging the two-party system — but we will only do so if we are prepared to speak up for all our communities and the fundamental humanity that unites us all.

The Left is always looking for leaders. Look around you — and you will see leaders in the communities we want to empower. You will see first-, second-, and third-generation migrants building collective power in as many places as they can. You will see the power of international solidarity. You will see that we cannot succeed at home without solidarity abroad.

The brighter future we speak of is no pipe dream. Our community in Islington North is proof that a more equal, just, and peaceful world is possible. We have proved that there is no conflict between justice at home and justice abroad. We have proved that decades of international solidarity can be the basis for a well-organised grassroots campaign. We have proved that, with people like Teme Teme Wanga on your side, we can beat the odds, and win.