Our news podcast looks at bins, cold cases, LTNs and Reform

Posted on March 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

Ego trip: Saturday’s Reform rally was mostly about Nigel Farage. No questions were allowed from the floor

The new episode of The Croydon Insider, our regular round-table, news panel discussion podcast thingy, looks at recent events in Croydon, including the Reform party’s rally at the Fairfield Halls, where they revealed their candidate for Croydon Mayor – and sparked a storm which has seen around a dozen members quit the party over the imposition of Ben Flook without any local selection process.

The Croydon Insider is premium content for paying subscribers to Inside Croydon, with a panel of guests drawn from our subscribers and contributors. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Ben Flook, Community associations, Croydon Insider, Fairfield Halls, Fly tipping, Inside Croydon, Litter Free Norbury, Nadia Azizuddin, Neil Bennett, Refuse collection, Tony Hooker, Under The Flyover, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Crowley joins Beddington Independents for election campaign

Posted on March 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

INSIDE SUTTON: The former leader of the Conservative group at the Civic Centre has deferred his retirement to help see off challenges from LibDems and Reform, as ROSE HILL reports

New start: incinerator critic Tim Crowley has switched to the Beddington Independents

Tim Crowley, for seven years the leader of the Conservative opposition on Sutton Council, has abandoned plans for retirement and will be standing for election on May 7 – with the Beddington Independents.

“Independence means I can speak forthrightly, work constructively with councillors of all parties, and deliver the scrutiny and accountability Beddington deserves,” Crowley said today.

Crowley will be standing in Beddington together with incinerator opponents Nick Mattey and Tim Foster. Jillian Green, a Beddington Independent councillor since 2018, is standing down from the council. Green’s intended replacement, Pamela Marsh, died recently after a short illness. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, Bobby Dean, Carshalton and Wallington, Nick Mattey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tim Foster | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Rising costs push Frant Road rugby club ‘to brink’ of closure

Posted on March 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

Streatham and Croydon RFC, one of the oldest rugby clubs in the world, has launched an “emergency appeal” for funds to keep the organisation going.

World Cup-winner: England’s Sadia Kabeya’s first club is at risk of folding

The club has its own ground on Frant Road in Thornton Heath, but is a victim of the cost of living crisis at a time when its membership numbers are not generating the kind of income required to keep the club’s activities viable.

After a couple of encouraging seasons, this term their first XV is planted close to the bottom of their league, Counties 3 Surrey, without a single win or point. They lost their last game 78-0, just the latest of a series of bone-shaking big defeats.

But the biggest match now facing Streatham and Croydon is one for the very survival of the club itself. Continue reading →

Posted in Rugby Union, Sadeya Kabeya, Streatham and Croydon North, Streatham-Croydon RFC, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Streatham Choral: Haydn’s The Creation, Cadogan Hall, Apr 11

Posted on March 31, 2026 by insidecroydon

C O M M U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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It’s no Flook: dozen Reform members resign over candidate

Posted on March 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

Lies and deceit: Nigel Farage on stage at his Reform rally in the Fairfield Halls on Saturday night. Behind the scenes Reform members were resigning from the grifters’ party

ELECTION EXCLUSIVE: Reform in Croydon is in meltdown, with members resigning over top-down decisions from Farage HQ. WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports on the Fairfield Halls exercise in onanism, where the real fireworks were going off backstage 

Grifter-in-chief Nigel Farage launched Reform’s London election campaign at the Fairfield Halls on Saturday amid pyrotechnics and his usual, self-regarding rhetoric.

But the real fireworks were going off behind the scenes in Reform’s Croydon branch, with mass resignations over Farage HQ’s imposed mayoral candidate, the ex-Tory Ben Flook.

Dan Milner-Tebbutt, who until last Monday was the local party’s chair and primed to be Reform’s first mayoral candidate in Croydon, yesterday announced that he had quit the party altogether, saying, “Croydon deserves serious politics – politics driven by a love for the borough, not by career ambition.”

Tebbutt’s resignation has been followed by around 10 other disgruntled members quitting, angry at how Farage’s party HQ has imposed Flook on them as their Croydon mayoral candidate. Most of those resigning were to have stood as council candidates in the local elections on May 7. They have left a gaping hole in Reform’s candidate list, with the declaration deadline fast approaching. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Ben Flook, Dan Milner-Tebbutt, Jose Joseph, London-wide issues, Mayor Jason Perry, New Addington, New Addington North, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, Shirley North, Shirley South, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Dance and taxes – Croydonites 2026 is open for applications

Posted on March 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

Are you a theatre maker or performer with an idea that you’ve been itching to present?

Now is your chance. The Croydonites Fringe is returning from July 1 to 5 in venues across Croydon and South Norwood, and they are looking for bold and exciting work from comedy, theatre, dance, music, poetry and more!

Plus there’s Arts Council-funded opportunities for dancers, and a new collaboration for creatives to help with all the mundane and boring stuff that goes with the greasepaint and stagecraft.

The Croydonites Festival celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2025, and featured several acts and shows that had come straight from success at the Edinburgh Festival. The Croydonites Fringe is a relatively recent, and slightly edgier, addition. Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Comedy, Croydonites Festival, Dance, Poetry, Stanley Halls, The Front Room, Theatre, Turf Projects | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

READER OFFER: Save £££s on tickets for the Ideal Home Show

Posted on March 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

The Ideal Home Show returns to Olympia London from April 10-19, bringing its most interactive and experience‑led edition yet to the capital.

And Inside Croydon’s paying subscribers can attend with special discount tickets, saving almost one-third of the entry fee!

Now in its 118th year, the Ideal Home Show  brings together celebrity experts, live demos and hands‑on features across homes, interiors, food, gardening, tech and lifestyle, all under one roof. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Inside Croydon | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The four supplier risk signals that only AI can catch in time

Posted on March 30, 2026 by insidecroydon

SPONSORED CONTENT

Supplier relationships are central to how modern organisations operate. A single third-party failure, whether financial, regulatory or operational, can trigger consequences that ripple through an entire business.

However, many procurement and finance teams still rely on annual reviews and periodic questionnaires to keep tabs on their supplier base. That approach has its limits. There are four risk signals that AI is best-placed to recognise for resolution. Continue reading →

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From flames to fame, Waddon’s Knox family made their mark

Posted on March 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

Raging inferno: the 1867 fire at Croydon Parish Church destroyed hundreds of years of records, tombs and artefacts. Young Edmund Knox was among the first on the scene

CROYDON CHRONICLES: From the night of the Great Fire of Croydon, DAVID MORGAN tells the story of a family of vicars and bishops, of writers and editors, and Enigma codebreakers

The fire which destroyed Croydon Parish Church in 1867 had a lasting impact on many people. One of them was a teenager at the time who lived near the church and who saw the flames from his home and ran to see if there was anything he could do to help.

Edmund Knox was living in Waddon. He attended the Parish Church and quickly realised the significance of the event unfolding before his eyes. He is reported to have said that the vicar, Rev John Hodgson, would have to be woken and be told of the catastrophe.

Knox lived with his family in a house near the River Wandle and was brought up in a strict household, dominated by religious faith, “in a spartan fashion”.

His father was the Rev George Knox, and his mother was Frances Reynolds, the daughter of George Reynolds, a prominent local Quaker. It was Foster Reynolds, her grandfather, who had purchased an estate in Carshalton through which the River Wandle flowed. Continue reading →

Posted in Church and religions, Croydon Minster, David Morgan, History, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Fourth man convicted for ‘brutal’ killing of Michael Afonso

Posted on March 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

More than two years after Michael Afonso was murdered in a brutal gang attack in Thornton Heath just before Christmas 2023, a fourth man has been convicted.

Killer: Ali Abdul Basit is to be sentenced in May

Ali Abdul Basit’s manslaughter and robbery conviction was largely down to forensic evidence, which found his DNA on a cigarette stub he’d left at the scene while waiting for Afonso with his fellow gang members.

The Met describe the conviction as being due to “relentless pursuit for justice”, after Basit fled to Pakistan following the killing.

Michael Patrick Afonso Peixoto was 27 when he was killed, and left a wife and young son. He was the 11th murder victim in Croydon in 2023.

He died after being attacked and stabbed by a group of men in Mayfield Crescent at around 10.30pm on Tuesday, December 19. The suspects drove off in the car Afonso had been driving, a grey Vauxhall Grand X Elite.

The police described the attack as “brutal”. Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Knife crime, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Farm Fest annual fund-raiser, Deen City Farm, Merton, Jun 27

Posted on March 29, 2026 by insidecroydon

C O M M U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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The Mayor’s record in office has worse delivery than Royal Mail

Posted on March 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

With Tory Jason Perry’s election pledges dropping on residents’ doormats this week and Labour candidate Rowenna Davis publishing her manifesto, the claims and promises of the two front-runners for Croydon Mayor are examined here by ANDREW FISHER

While incumbent Mayor Jason Perry hasn’t (yet) issued a manifesto, his election leaflet sets out what he considers the six key bits of his record, under the title “Lots done. Lots more to do.”

Top of the Mayor’s list is “fixing the finances”, which will be news to both Croydon residents and the government Commissioners alike. This year, the council requested £119million of Exceptional Financial Support, up from £110 million last year, and up from £50m in 2023-2024.

He’s fucked the finances, not fixed them!

And that’s despite hiking our Council Tax by 33% since 2023.

Next up on Perry’s list is “Croydon Town Centre”, about which Perry says, “Businesses are opening… slowly but surely, the town centre is coming back”. The new shops in the Allders building are certainly open, but five times as many shops closed in the Whitgift Centre in 2025 than Westfield opened on North End. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Fly tipping, Mayor Jason Perry, Rowenna Davis | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

The election night in 1966 when I saw David Winnick win

Posted on March 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

DAVID WHITE pays tribute to the former Croydon Labour MP, David Winnick, who has died, aged 92

Veteran MP: David Winnick was elected in Croydon in 1966 and served another constituency for 38 years

David Winnick, who has died this week, aged 92, served as a Croydon Labour MP in the 1960s.

The very first election count I attended was at Croydon Town Hall on the occasion of the 1966 General Election. I met David Winnick there for the first time. He was the Labour candidate for Croydon South, basically the constituency which was later called Croydon Central.

The constituency had been represented by Sir Richard Thompson, a Tory businessman and baronet. Thompson was standing for re-election. On the first count Thompson was declared to be the winner by a slender margin of 100 votes or so. Winnick and his agent, Syed Shah, asked for a recount.

Shah owned a newsagents on Croydon High Street and had already established a reputation as an efficient Labour organiser. On the second count, Shah spotted a bundle of 100 votes for Winnick which had mistakenly been put in the pile for Thompson.

So the eventual outcome was a win for Winnick by 81 votes and a Labour gain in Harold Wilson’s landslide victory. Conservatives Bernard Wetherill (Croydon North East) and Fred Harris (Croydon North West) were the other Croydon MPs elected that day, almost exactly 60 years ago. Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Central, Croydon South, David White | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

‘Modern-Day Art’ Exhibition at Croydon Art Space, to Apr 30

Posted on March 28, 2026 by insidecroydon

C O M M U N I T Y
A D V E R T I S E M E N T

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Posted in Advertisement, Advertisement features, Art, Croydon Art Space | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Reform’s candidate for Mayor bottles it ahead of Farage visit

Posted on March 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

ELECTION EXCLUSIVE: Less than 48 hours before he was due to be unveiled at the Fairfield Halls as his party’s pick to head their campaign in Croydon, Dan Milner-Tebbutt resigned. Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reveals his replacement, another Conservative defector to the party of grifters 

Just hours after this website published its report about Daniel Tebbutt switching roles at Croydon Reform, standing down as chair of the local party in order to take on a “new role”, than Dan Milner-Tebbutt (as he is now known following his recent marriage) announced on social media that he was resigning as the party’s candidate for Croydon Mayor.

Campaign in disarray: Nigel Farage’s party is on to its fourth mayoral candidate in barely a year

Reform’s grifter-in-chief Nigel Farage is expected in Croydon tomorrow, for a “walkabout” at Central Parade in New Addington from 3pm, before a £5-a-ticket “rally” at the council-owned arts centre, the Fairfield Halls.

There, Farage is to launch his party’s London local election campaign, and was also expected to reveal the identity of their Croydon mayoral candidate.

But with the party’s ratings in the polls slipping, and problems in finding people to stand as local election candidates, tomorrow Farage will arrive in a borough where Reform is in a state of disarray, its social media presence having been erased completely and around 10 of their selected council election candidates having quit, in addition to Milner-Tebbutt.

Reform Ltd in Croydon is now on to its fourth mayoral candidate in little more than a year, although the latest one does appear to have a pulse. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Ben Flook, Dan Milner-Tebbutt | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

‘Decency’ hustings as no one missed the missing candidate

Posted on March 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

‘Like a sauna at a David Lloyd fitness centre’: but at least the mayoral candidates kept their clothes on for last night’s Croydon Business Association hustings

ELECTION SKETCH: In a cramped ‘hub’ in Broad Green, the first full hustings of the 2026 Croydon Mayor campaign took place last night. KEN TOWL was there, so you didn’t need to be (and you couldn’t have squeezed in, anyway)

The reception area of the Croydon Smile hub is taller than it is long. The building, dark wood and glass on the outside, pointing up at the sky like a black wedge of cheese, looks like an architectural metaphor for aspiration. The Croydon Business Association chose it for their mayoral hustings.

Inside, it has the look of a sauna at a David Lloyd fitness club, all exposed pine, with five people seated in a row being grilled. Fortunately, they kept their clothes on.

These are some of the people with an aspiration of their own, to be executive Mayor of Croydon for four years starting on May 8. There might have been six, but we don’t find out why there is not until the end… Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Community associations, Croydon Business Association, Ken Towl, Mayor Jason Perry, Michael Pusey, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Rowenna Davis, Ruskin House | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

At 78, Palace hero Roy becomes Bristol City caretaker boss

Posted on March 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

Back in the spotlight: Roy Hodgson has come out of retirement

At 78, Roy Hodgson, the holder of the Freedom of the Borough of Croydon, is about to embark on his 21st managerial job.

The former England manager and twice boss at his hometown club Crystal Palace, has today been announced as head coach of Championship side Bristol City for the remainder of the season.

Hodgson was in charge at Ashton Gate once before – 44 years ago.

This time, he has been placed in charge with the club 16th in the league table, seemingly safe from threat of relegation with seven games to go, but without a win in six matches.

Hodgson takes over following the sacking as manager of Gerhard Struber. Continue reading →

Posted in Crystal Palace FC, Football, Roy Hodgson | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Coulsdon’s Bell promises ding-dong contest in Gladiators final

Posted on March 27, 2026 by insidecroydon

A 23-year-old rugby player from Coulsdon is in tomorrow night’s final of Gladiators.

Coulsdon champion: Emily Bell is in tomorrow’s Gladiators final

Emily Bell says that her background in contact sport – as well as playing for rugby league side London Broncos, she took up judo when at Cambridge University – has helped her cope with the physical strength and speed tests posed by the professional Gladiators as she has batled her way into the final.

That, and the support of her mum and her community in Croydon.

Gladiators is the long-running show where members of the public are pitted against each other over a series of races and challenges, with powerhouse professional guards, the Gladiators, standing in their way, often armed with pugil sticks…

Bell, who works as a marketing intern at Morgan Stanley, told the BBC ahead of the final, “It’s just been so fun to rep the flag of south London, of Croydon.”

A big party is planned for tomorrow night, to watch the action as it goes out on the prime-time show hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney Walsh. Continue reading →

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Game of musical chairs for Reform as Tebbutt takes ‘new role’

Posted on March 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

Just five days before their party leader is expected at the Fairfield Halls for a rally to be attended by “thousands” (in a Concert Hall with a capacity of fewer than 1,800), and Reform Ltd in Croydon has changed their local chair for the third time in barely nine months.

An email was sent to members of Croydon Reform on Monday evening, March 23, from Dan Tebbutt, announcing that the “branch committee of Reform UK Croydon” had re-appointed Nik Stewert as chairman, replacing Tebbutt.

Thrusting politician: Dan Tebbutt has stood down as Reform Ltd Croydon’s chair

Tebbutt had been chair only since November 19 last year. Before that, Stewert had been chair for less than six months.

No reason was given for this game of musical chairs, which comes with the local elections just a few weeks away and, as yet, not a single Reform council candidate confirmed in Croydon.

Nigel Farage, the millionaire grifter who fronts Reform Ltd, is expected to announce the party’s Croydon Mayor candidate on Saturday night.

He will do so against a backdrop of the local party in some turmoil. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Dan Milner-Tebbutt | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Selsdon Park Hotel’s new owners hope to re-open by June 2027

Posted on March 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

Back in business: the Selsdon Park Hotel has its third owners in four years, after it was sold to a subsidiary of the BH Group by administrators

EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES

A £1billion property business has bought what was once known as the Selsdon Park Hotel, and is looking to re-open in 12- to 14-months’ time after a multi-million-pound refurb (yes, another one).

The £200 per night Birch Selsdon, with its two bars, three restaurants and 200 acres of North Downs parkland, was forced into administration in November 2023. It had only opened for business less than six months earlier.

In 2022, what had been a somewhat tired and run-down hotel, sports centre and golf club changed hands to be given a £15million makeover and re-styled as a modern, up-market country club charging members £150 per month.

According to the official administrators, the Birch hotel in Selsdon was “subject to approximately £29million of bank debt”. Continue reading →

Posted in BH Group, Birch (Selsdon), Business, Selsdon Park Hotel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Waterstones’ primaries enjoy poetry, mysteries and recycling

Posted on March 26, 2026 by insidecroydon

Captive audience: for two weeks, Waterstones was full of enraptured children as mostly local authors read from their books

Thousands of children from two dozen local schools got a World Book Day token and an inspiring lesson from an author or illustrator to mark World Book Day at the Whitgift Centre’s biggest book shop

More than 3,500 pupils from Croydon primary and SEN schools took part in special World Book Day events, staged at Waterstone’s book store in the Whitgift Centre earlier this month.

Each session was hosted by local authors who provided enthralling and inspiring classes.

And almost 4,000 children have also used special World Book Day tokens at Waterstones Croydon to get a World Book Day book of their own.

Among the children’s book authors and illustrators attending, Wendy Warren swirled and twirled Reception and Year 1 classes through all the ballet positions Rita Bear attempted in her story The Bear who wanted to Dance. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Art, Business, Education, Poetry, Schools, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

43 days to go and desperation is appearing in election leaflets

Posted on March 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

Giving Croydon the finger: Nigel Farage’s grifters’ bandwagon rolls into the Fairfield Halls on Saturday – which is very bad news for Tory Mayor Jason Perry and his Conservative colleagues

After all the calamities inflicted on Croydon by Tory Mayor Jason Perry, from his 33% Council Tax hikes to his unlawful LTN fines, has Labour fallen into their old trap of over-promising before under-delivering?
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, sifts through the latest polling figures

It’s very bad news for Croydon Conservatives that Nigel Farage is to headline a rally for Reform UK Ltd in Croydon on Saturday.

It is typical of the Tory Mayor’s failed and bungled administration that the Fairfield Halls, a council-owned venue, has accepted the booking from Farage’s very well-funded party of grifters, so potentially undermining Jason Perry’s re-election campaign.

The publicity for the event must be worth many Tory-to-Reform vote switches that Perry and Croydon Conservatives just cannot afford. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Chris Clark, Claire Bonham, Council Tax, Croydon Greens, Croydon South, Croydon West, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Jeet Bains, London-wide issues, New Addington, New Addington North, Old Coulsdon, Paul Scott, Ria Patel, Richard Howard, Shirley North, Shirley South, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Surrey’s September title heartbreak has been a real motivator

Posted on March 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

Ashes victim: England’s winter tour to Australia was a disaster, but only Surrey batsman Ollie Pope appears to have suffered any consequence

HOOK’S SHOT: The wickets have been rolled, the stumps varnished and bats oiled with linseed. From his seat in The Oval Long Room, MARCUS HOOK, pictured right, looks ahead to the cricket season

Good Friday sees the start of the domestic cricket season. For Surrey it will mark the first step on the path to reclaiming the County Championship. The pain of missing out on a fourth successive title is such that anything other than top billing in 2026 simply isn’t an option.

It all came down to last September’s clash with Nottinghamshire at the Oval. With little to choose between the two contenders, fans were treated to a pulsating four-day contest. Notts held on to win by 20 runs, following it up by routing Warwickshire a week later to end Surrey’s three-year domination.

Matt Fisher, the former England seamer, made his move from Yorkshire to SE11 a year ago. He took 11 wickets in that crunch match against Notts, but now says: “I would have handed all those wickets back for us to win.” Continue reading →

Posted in Cricket, Gareth Batty, Jamie Smith, Marcus Hook, Rory Burns, Sport, Surrey CCC | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hear Scottish Detective’s crime scene secrets at the Cryer

Posted on March 25, 2026 by insidecroydon

‘This is not fiction. It’s real cases, real victims and real consequences’

Crime fighters: Cheryl Fergus Ferrll and David Swindle will be at the Cryer Arts Centre on May 10

David Swindle, one of the country’s best-known true crime detective figures, will be sharing his insights and memories of a lifetime’s work hunting down criminals when his show, Murder: A Search for The Truth, comes to the Cryer Arts Centre in Carshalton on May 10.

Co-hosting the event will be south London journalist, and Inside Croydon podcast regular, Cheryl Fergus-Ferrell.

Nearly 170,000 people attended Swindle’s show during a nationwide tour last year, but this is the first chance that people from Croydon and Sutton have had to see and hear him on their patch to discuss his approach to cold cases, forensics and legal issues.

“The Scottish Detective” has more than three decades of experience in policing. His work on the case of serial killer and sex offender, Peter Tobin, who was sentenced to a full-life term in prison, and the creation of Operation Anagram changed the way serial killers and cold cases are investigated in Britain. Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Cryer Theatre | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Mayor Perry failed to stop Farage rally in council-owned venue

Posted on March 24, 2026 by insidecroydon

Reform UK could win eight or nine council seats in May’s local elections in Croydon, mostly from the Tories. And they could scupper the Conservative Mayor’s re-election bid. But gormless Jason Perry won’t cancel Nigel Farage’s booking at the Fairfield Halls.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES

Cheers: Disingenuous grifter Nigel Farage has played Jason Perry for a fool

Jason Perry, Croydon’s failed Tory Mayor, has damaged his re-election chances even more – by allowing Nigel Farage to stage a Reform UK Ltd rally virtually on the Town Hall’s doorstep in a council-owned venue this Saturday.

Farage and his limited company will be rolling up at the Fairfield Halls, where the grifter-in-chief is expected to announce Reform’s candidate for Croydon Mayor – a very poorly disguised secret, although Inside Croydon can reveal that this time the Reform HQ-approved candidate does at least have a pulse.

At the rally ahead of May 7’s local council elections, racist Farage and his loyal supporters will explain how “we will secure our borders”, which is not a local council responsibility, “cut the cost of living”, again something else mostly outside the powers of your average Town Hall, “bring down energy bills”, ditto, and “stop council waste”, which is something that the bozos on the Farage ticket who have taken charge at 12 other councils in the past 12 months have shown themselves incapable or ill-equipped to do.

And, of course, none of the Reform-controlled councils have managed to cut Council Tax, as was promised before they were elected. Continue reading →

Posted in 2026 council elections, 2026 Croydon Mayor election, Croydon Council, Fairfield Halls, Mayor Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments