Andrew Fisher, the Croydon resident who is policy adviser to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has said that his ranking as the ninth most influential figure on the left is “obviously nonsense”.
Thumbs up: Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are influenced by Andrew Fisher
But as Corbyn’s speech to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this afternoon demonstrated, Fisher’s protestations may be overly modest.
Corbyn, re-elected Labour leader with a 61 per cent vote of members, affiliates and supporters, included in his speech a name check for Alison Butler, the deputy leader of Croydon Labour, and mentioned favourably the council’s recently formed house-building company.
There were at least four standing ovations in the hall for the Labour leader, as Corbyn spoke of “a fairer Britain in a peaceful world” in his hour-long key-note speech.
And some of the policy points raised in Corbyn’s speech – including building 500,000 council houses, re-nationalising the railways – appeared to have the hallmarks of Fisher’s… ahem… influence. Continue reading
Councillors will try to quiz GPs and health managers who are responsible for Croydon’s NHS commissioning, in particular about how much healthcare in the borough is about to undergo some serious surgery.
Kitted out in judges’ wigs, robber outfits and carrying swag bags, members of the Association of British Commuters and the campaign group 
