For the first time since it was created in 1965, Croydon Council has councillors from five political parties. WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, looks at whether they will make any difference – or even be allowed to try
All change: how Croydon has changed from being just red and blue after the May 7 2026 local elections
While other councils in London and across the country have seen radical change following the local elections on May 7, Croydon seems largely the same. At first glance, anyway.
There is still a Conservative Mayor, and Labour councillors still comprise the largest group on the council. The question now, though, is, with 12 councillors from three other parties (and one “independent”), what impact might they have on the running of our council? And will they be allowed to have an impact?
The supplementary question is significant, because it recognises that Croydon Council’s constitution will be the biggest obstacle to change. The council constitution embeds the old Red-Blue duopoly, and the council’s bureaucrats, often acting in their own self-interest, do their utmost to keep power in the hands of Labour and the Tories. Continue reading
CROYDON CHRONICLES: The Minster’s archive is a rich source of documents, registers, publications and correspondence that have yielded vast quantities of detail and information about the history of Croydon for DAVID MORGAN. But here is a letter that the archivist has never found, but conceivably might have done…
It is now little more than a year since the Tory Mayor decided to end years of successful collaboration and hard work by dedicated local charities and volunteers at the Carers Support Centre and bring in outside contractors. In the past 12 months, under the new service supplier, official figures show the record of delivery looks to have fallen off a cliff.
So just how did Perry, the incompetent Mayor who hiked your Council Tax by 33% and still managed to increase council debt to £1.7billion, manage to scramble together enough votes to get re-elected last week?
It’s the eighth year that Transport for London has staged such an awareness week, and this year it has Turner Prize-winning artist Tracey Emin providing specially recorded announcements for Tube and bus stations.
