Croydon, under Tory council leader Mike Fisher, is fast becoming Cameron’s Crazy Council.

On the one hand, Fisher’s inner cabinet has shamelessly approved increases in their council allowances of up to 34 per cent – even earning the condemnation of ConDem local government minister Grant Shapps.

And they are still pushing ahead with Fisher’s vanity project, a near half a billion pounds of public money on yet another office block for central Croydon. Hard times indeed.

Yet, the same group of Conservative councillors – including the likes of former IRA moll Maria Gatland and the ever-so-proper Sara Bashford – shrill happily as they rubber stamp ultra-Thatcherite cuts, like the 66 per cent slashing of grants to Croydon’s voluntary sector.

Nothing like “Call Me Dave”‘s Big Society in Croydon.

It must further dismay Conservative Central Office that not that all of Croydon’s Conservative councillors are on message.

Inside Croydon is trying to confirm the identity of the Tory high flyer, a relative newcomer to council politics but already picked out by the party’s leadership at the recent Conservative conference as “one to follow”, who was spotted skipping from the council chamber last Monday excitedly pronouncing to anyone who would listen:

“Don’t you just hate the coalition?”

Perhaps it was just a blonde moment?

But it might be the sort of political slip that could wreck an otherwise promising political career and see the councillor in question exiled to a desert island.

At least that would stop them pursuing immature notions like trying to get changed the historic name of the area of Croydon that they are supposed to represent, simply because their nearest and dearest thinks it is somehow unseemly.

Always good to hear that Croydon’s Tories are spending their time wrestling with the really important issues of the day.