Grenfell residents have marked seven years since the disaster with renewed calls for justice, and some expressing hope the election will bring decisive change for bereaved families and survivors.

In 2017 a fire ripped through the Grenfell Tower in west London, killing 72 people. Memorial events, including a silent march, are taking place across north Kensington to remember those who lost their lives.

The housing secretary, Michael Gove, the deputy leader of the Labour party, Angela Rayner, and the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, laid flowers at a memorial site beneath the ruin of the tower on Friday.

Ahead of the anniversary, families bereaved by the fire, the infected blood scandal and Covid-19 have called on the next prime minister to ensure recommendations that emerge from public inquiries are acted upon.

The seventh anniversary of the tragedy has coincided with the election campaign, with polls predicting a Labour victory which would mark the end of 14 years of Conservative government.

North Kensington resident Wonder Ronda said it was a “great and sad time that elections are coming”.

“I hope people show how they feel about what has been happening with their votes. You show by voting what you think about the politicians and their empty promises,” she said.

Samia Badani, the founder of community group Space, described the seventh anniversary as a “turning point”, with the involvement of local youth in memorial services “particularly pertinent in the context of the general election”.

“They have now found a voice after years of not being heard,” she said. “We hope that their message will be amplified and that their aspirations, their desire to see change and justice for Grenfell, will be put firmly on the agenda of the future government. They want leadership that will deliver change they have been fighting for too many years.”

Hamid Ali Jafari, whose 82-year-old father Ali Yawar Jafari died in the blaze, said families were still “waiting for answers”.

“It still feels the same, like day one, it’s been seven years we’re standing for justice,” he said. “Day by day, it’s killing us, our lives.”

The Oscar-nominated director Misan Harriman visited the memorial wall on Friday and said he stood “in solidarity with a community that I love and that represents the very best of our country”. “It’s really important we recognise the need for justice, we are weeks away from an election,” he added.

Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent Central, laid flowers at the memorial wall and said she regularly reflects on the disaster.

When asked about the government’s response to the tragedy and whether Labour’s manifesto addresses those challenges, Butler said: “I think, like many things to do with this Tory government, it has been mishandled … the Labour manifesto talks about righting the wrongs of many injustices including Grenfell, Windrush, the Post Office, the infected blood scandal, Hillsborough, and that’s the right thing to do as a government.”

In 2019, the Grenfell Tower inquiry found the main cause of the rapid spread of the fire was the flammable cladding that was wrapped around the block. The second report, due to be published later this year, will look at how the building came to be in that condition.

Douaa, a 21-year-old student who lived opposite the tower and witnessed the blaze, said it was important to attend memorial events to remember the lives that were lost. “Most of us have come away from it with PTSD, depression, anxiety … You feel it when you come here, you feel the sadness in the air,” she said.

Elizabeth Campbell, the leader of Kensington and Chelsea ccouncil, said: “This council could and should have done more to keep our residents safe before the fire, and to care for them in the aftermath.

“We are committed to learning from the report and recommendations, to ensure that a tragedy like Grenfell can never happen again.”