There are a total of 28 candidates nominated across five Croydon wards for council by-elections to be held on May 6.
The statements of persons nominated were released on Friday afternoon by Katherine Kerswell, the council’s interim chief executive and, therefore, the borough’s returning officer.
The by-elections have been called following the resignations of five councillors, including Tony Newman and Simon Hall, part of the discredited Labour leadership that has bankrupted the council and caused a national scandal over the appalling conditions of flats in a council block.
Like Labour, Tories and the Greens, the Liberal Democrats have managed to scramble together a full set of nominations across the five wards, including one former Labour councillor, Andrew Rendle.
Rendle is one of seven candidates, the most of any ward, standing in Woodside, Newman’s former stomping ground. Among them is Mark Samuel, a seemingly perpetual independent candidate in local elections, but one who has never (yet, at least) managed to secure election. This year, Samuel managed to nominate himself to stand in the five wards, before withdrawing from all but Woodside.
Woodside and South Norwood wards have both got candidates from a new political group, the Taking The Initiative Party – a party which took the initiative to pay for advertising billboards in the borough which managed to misspell the name of Croydon South MP Chris Philp.
Kenley ward has a candidate from the so-called Heritage Party, an off-shoot from UKIP established by London Assembly member David Kurten, while New Addington North has drawn a candidate from the BNP.
Here are the nomination papers:
All election campaigning was suspended yesterday, following the announcement of the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Read more: ‘Council flats crisis has been heartbreaking, and cruel’
Read more: Tories include a proven liar among by-election candidates
Read more: Candidates’ tough task to shake off Labour reputation
Read more: Time to end borough’s ‘lazy’ political duopoly say Greens
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This is a time that Croydon desperately needs Councillors with experience and the ability to critically question what is going on in our borough. I am aware that some of these candidates have exagerated their community involvement on their statements and actually have very little real experience of life or business i.e. they are not going to be a lot of use to represent people in some very challenging circumstances. Please when people vote can they vote for the most competent candidate, please be critical, please do not vote with blind party loyalty.
If any voter in the upcoming elections are unsure about the four main political parties’ ideology, I hope the information below will assist:-
Tories…A ‘do not do as we do, only do as we say’ doctrine together with a total lack of sympathy and empathy for anybody and anything. A useful ditty is as follows…’ All the Tories in their sweet repose, have the pickin’ of the chicken and leaves us the parson’s nose.’
Labour… A party that has to look back to 1945-51 and 1964-70 for relevance and with reverence whilst being quite unable to transpose the reasons why those years in office were successful into the present day. “21st Century serfdom.” is an apt description by John McDonnell of today. A party now for, and run by, the petty bourgeoisie. And when I say petty, I mean petty.
Liberal Social Democrats…A political oxymoron as when in power locally or in national coalition they were, and still are, not very liberal, nor very sociable let alone democratic. A push-me/pull-me outlook and as in the good Doctor, do little when given the chance.
Green Party…A belief and strategy in ecological matters but only for those who can afford it. Advocates wind power and thus speaks mainly from the arse. Hot air and nauseous gases emanate annually at their conference.
Socialist Republican Party… Advocating a economy based on commerce and not capitalism. A society based on need and not on greed. Together with an array of policies that….whoops my mistake…it doesn’t exist!!
I know your tongue is firmly in you cheek, but it’s worth pointing out that the petit bourgeois were small businessmen and small town rentiers. In today’s terms the Daily Mail reading classes who keep the tories in power and are prone to favouring the far right in troubled time, cf Brexit. Their only dalliance with Labour was in 1997 but that fizzled out after a few years.
There are plenty of pejorative ways of describing Labour supporters, but petty bourgeois is not one of them.