Amu Gib is being held at HMP Bronzefield but is on the ballot paper in Finsbury Park

THERE hasn’t been an election interview like it in the Islington Tribune’s history – the unprecedented scenario of a candidate saying they want to become a councillor while locked up in prison.

But on Tuesday, Amu Gib – who has been held at HMP Bronzefield for nine months without trial, accused of breaking into an RAF air base – spoke about their anger at the legal and prison system, and why they are among the candidates at the May 7 council elections.

The Tribune reported earlier this year that Gib had been put up as a possible independent candidate in the Finsbury Park ward.

They have not been convicted of a crime and a rules check found they were eligible to be on the ballot paper. Election historians across the country can find few examples of candidates standing for election from a prison cell.

Their candidacy is part of the challenge from the Islington Community Independents – but is now separate to two other independent candidates in the ward. Gib has been locked up at Bronzefield since July 2025, despite the legal custody time limit without a trial standing at 182 days.

They were arrested for allegedly breaking into Britain’s largest air force base at RAF Brize Norton and causing millions of pounds worth of damage to aircraft that Palestine Action campaigners had believed would aid Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

Gib has pleaded not guilty to the charges and further details of the case can not be reported until the trial.

Speaking to the Tribune via a phone call in unprecedented circumstances, Gib described how the jail system “conditions you not to respond like a human being”, and called for an end to the for-profit system of private prisons.

“I think you can’t spend a week in prison without understanding that they need to close”, Gib said. “The logic of locking people up as a solution to society’s ills when there’s no evidence that has ever worked is something you have to confront every day. “It’s not that prisons are overcrowded, it’s that they overcrowd prisons, it’s a political decision.

“There’s no way that spending 63k a year per prisoner could not be better spent in any way outside. They are building more prisons, more detention centres, and I’m not sure when the last time I heard of a hospital or a library being built or opened, but it’s definitely not as often as they are opening prisons.”

Gib’s trial is scheduled for January 2027 – by which point they will have been in prison for 18 months.

As they are deemed a high-risk prisoner under terror legislation, Gib is not allowed to share a cell and can spend up to 23 hours a day locked up alone. Sometimes the prisoners are allowed 30 minutes for exercise, sometimes not.

“I can’t explain to you how much of a vibes-based system prison is”, they said. “There’s no clocks anywhere, the guards don’t have clocks, it’s just how often they need the toilet and whether they want to stand outside if it’s sunny or if it’s not.”

Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour government have been accused of cracking down on protest since coming into power with arrests for non-violent action and increased discretionary powers for police to control how demonstrations are carried out.

“It is hard to believe, but it’s happening, someone who is a human rights lawyer and 100 per cent knows better has let himself become this bloodthirsty wet wipe for imperialism”, said Gib.

“They are definitely making examples of us, but that’s another reason for me to take up as much space as possible. To make them really regret trying to put [attention on] people who previously may have wanted to be more anonymous. By putting people in prison, you’ve forced a level of exposure on us, but also that means that they expose themselves.

“I think it’s always about trying to turn whatever repressive tactic they are attempting to use on you back around. So, they try and silence you, you make more noise. And if they try and isolate you, you bind together.”

Gib, who attended Highbury Grove School as a teenager, recalled memories of leafleting against the Iraq war with their grandparents and parents as a child, before gradually getting more and more involved in activism.

“It’s like noticing someone growing”, Gib said. “It just becomes part of how you understand the world, and exhausting all the options that are presented to you under the headline of ‘democracy’, and seeing that that’s not what actually changes things, you are prompted into taking matters into your own hands. It’s not vigilantism – it’s social responsibility.

“It’s just caring about things and then what you decide to do about it either makes it activism or care work or organising or becoming a paramedic.”

Gib is expected to attend a bail hearing on May 1, when a decision will be made over whether they can be released before their trial. This could mean they are out in time for polling day ­– otherwise a locked-up candidate will be up for election.

Naturally, opponents have questioned how this will affect constituents who need help.

“I’m hoping to replicate a model described to me by Gary Donnelly, a councillor in Derry, who has a core team around him of 10 people who have figured out what people’s needs are and trained themselves to meet them”, said Gib.

“They have housing inspectors, plumbers, and they signpost people. The understanding for me is that nothing is ever done by one person. People can write to me or send letters, and we’d figure it out.”

There have been suggestions of joining surgeries via video link.

“If there’s not a way already in place for people to be local councillors from prison, I’m sure we can figure out a pathway,” said Gib.

The first thing they would do if allowed home to Finsbury Park? “Probably eat something delicious with as many of my loved ones as possible, and then get back to work,” they said, adding Jai Krishna in Stroud Green Road should expect an order.

Full candidate list in Finsbury Park

Caroline Jane Allen (Green Party)
Amu Gib (Islington Community Independents)
Syreen Hassan (Green Party)
Natalie Kane Koffman (Green Party)
Jonathan Lang (Reform UK)
Pauline Lewis (Conservatives)
Sharon Matthew (Independent)
Stephen Mark McMinnies (Conservatives)
Amelia Sarah Mitford (Liberal Democrats)
Portia Mtwakazi Msimang (Labour)
Angela Nicolaou (Reform UK)
Mick O’Sullivan (Labour)
Gulcin Ozdemir (Labour)
Edwin David Smith (Liberal Democrats)
Daniel Kristen Thomas (Liberal Democrats)
Chris Williams (Conservatives)
Sadiq Yusuf (Independent)