New job for former top cop Osland in Croydon Tories’ coup

Posted on September 5, 2014 by insidecroydon

Some within the Croydon Tories are attempting a coup to sack the local Conservative Federation’s chairman and replace him with the controversial retired senior policeman who was criticised in the inquiry into the brutal death of Stephen Lawrence.

MoleAccording to our mole based in the garden outside the Tories’ headquarters in Purley, pressure is being brought on the current chairman, Robert “Arthur” Askey, to stand down immediately so that they can replace him with former Coulsdon West councillor David Osland.

The moves are understood to pre-date this week’s Town Hall scandal surrounding the greedy £10,000 extra allowances claim by the Tories’ council leader, florid-faced Mike Fisher. But the attempt to topple Askey just a few weeks after the Conservatives’ demoralising defeat at the local elections suggests mounting panic among a political cadre accustomed to being in power in Croydon.

The Croydon Conservative Federation, which oversees the Tories’ campaigning and operations across all three of the borough’s parliamentary constituencies, is not due to have its annual meeting until March, when any changes to its officers would usually be expected to take place. But that would be too late to influence May’s General Election, when the Tories fear they could lose one of the two parliamentary seats they hold in the borough.

Old mates: Gavin Barwell, now MP for the Whitgift Foundation, pictured with David Osland when they were Conservative party colleagues on Croydon Council. Are they working together closely again?

Old mates: Gavin Barwell, MP for the Whitgift Foundation, pictured with David Osland when they were Conservative party colleagues on Croydon Council. Are they working together closely again?

Some in Croydon’s Tories believe they need to make use of Osland’s unique skill set, and they need it now.

Osland was one of the Met’s most senior officers, as the Deputy Assistant Commissioner for south-east London, at the time of Stephen Lawrence’s racist murder in 1993. Osland was later singled out for special criticism by the McPherson Report, which accused the Metropolitan Police of being “institutionally racist”.

The McPherson Report was highly critical of Osland for allowing the breakdown in the police’s relationship with Stephen Lawrence’s family and lawyer, stating: “Mr Osland should not be surprised that some who heard his evidence might regard this as another example of institutional racism at work”.

After his retirement on a police pension, Osland became a Tory councillor for Coulsdon West, working closely with his ward colleague Gavin Barwell. Barwell has since gone on to become MP for Croydon Central. Osland stood down as a councillor in May, conveniently making way for Barwell’s self-proclaimed “gobby factotum”, Mario Creatura, to stand in a safe Tory ward. Creatura now has access to £11,000-worth of councillor allowances in addition to his state-funded job which involves watching the television and running his boss’s Twitter account.

At the local elections in May, the Tories lost control of Waddon (in Croydon South) and Ashburton, while failing to win back control in Addiscombe (both wards in Croydon Central). Since then, Barwell has been having sleepless nights. It is not unreasonable to assume that Barwell is one of those who may be seeking urgent changes at the top of his local party organisation.

Current chairman Askey’s political track record is, at best, patchy. In 2010, Askey lost his own seat on the council when Labour won Upper Norwood ward. Askey had claimed that Upper Norwood Joint Library was “safe in Conservative hands”. The Tory council later cut funding to UNJL.

 

As the Croydon Conservative Federation chairman, Askey has presided over dwindling local party membership, he oversaw the Croydon South parliamentary candidate selection in which Fisher, his group leader was humiliated, and in May Croydon Tories suffered their worst defeat in Town Hall elections since 1994.

The Croydon Conservative Federation, which has another former councillor, Ian Parker, working for them as a full-time agent, did not respond to Inside Croydon’s questions over its senior officers.

Perhaps they are uncomfortable admitting that it could be just a matter of time before “Arthur” is saying “Goodbye, playmates.”

Coming to Croydon

Inside Croydon: Croydon’s only independent news source, based in the heart of the borough: 407,847 page views (Jan-Jun 2014) If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, a residents’ or business association or local event, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com

About insidecroydon

News, views and analysis about the people of Croydon, their lives and political times in the diverse and most-populated borough in London. Based in Croydon and edited by Steven Downes. To contact us, please email inside.croydon@btinternet.com
This entry was posted in Addiscombe West, Ashburton, Coulsdon Town, Croydon Central, David Osland, Gavin Barwell, Ian Parker, Mario Creatura, Mike Fisher and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

1 Response to New job for former top cop Osland in Croydon Tories’ coup

  1. Patrick Ratnaraja (@ratnaraja) says:
    September 6, 2014 at 10:07 am

    At least he can investigate people who claim allowances.

    Reply

Join the conversation here