VOTING FRAUD SCANDAL: Stunned candidates for parliamentary selection in a safe seat have reacted to the party’s cancellation of tomorrow’s key meeting. By STEVEN DOWNES

Decent: Olga Fitzroy’s statement issued this morning

The shortlisted candidates who were expecting to face Croydon East members in a final parliamentary selection meeting tomorrow have responded to the postponement of the process following serious and wide-ranging allegations of vote fraud and tampering with the membership list.

Well, at least most of them have.

Three of the four on the shortlist issued statements, some of which appeared remarkably similar, almost as if they had first sought approval from a “higher” authority – ie. party apparatchiks.

Only one of the candidates, Olga Fitzroy, expressed any regret to Croydon East Labour members and supporters for the inconvenience that had been caused by the short-notice, but essential, cancellation of tomorrow’s meeting.

As Inside Croydon has been reporting for months, blatant rule-breaking has been going on around the Croydon East Labour selection since even before the process was officially declared open. Most recently, serious concerns have been aired by Labour members about the dodgy postal/online voting system used by Labour.

Yesterday, veteran political correspondent Michael Crick reported shocking allegations of “suspected fraud” and “allegations of large-scale tampering with membership lists” in Croydon East’s selection. “Several complaints already made to Labour national and London region HQs, especially over use of online votes,” Crick revealed.

By early afternoon yesterday, Labour’s London Region office was emailing members to advise that it was halting the selection process. “As a result of complaints received by the party that require investigation, the selection process in Croydon East has been paused with immediate effect,” a nameless official wrote.

“This means that the hustings meeting due to take place on Saturday has been cancelled and any votes already cast have been voided.”

Crick, and others, immediately called for an independent investigation into a scandal in which senior party members have appeared, blatantly, to be favouring one of the least-well-qualified candidates for selection.

This morning, in her statement, posted on Twitter, Fitzroy, an elected Lambeth councillor and successful national campaigner, described the voting fraud allegations as “worrying”.

She wrote: “I’m sorry for the inconvenience caused to members who had made plans to attend the hustings, but I am grateful to the Party for listening and taking the necessary steps to investigate fully the allegations and ensure there is fair process.

“I hope that the facts are quickly established and that a new, fair process can take place as soon as possible, with full participation of all members.

“I am grateful to everyone who has taken the time to speak with me and my team.”

For Natasha Irons, another on the shortlist, the allegations are “concerning”. Irons, a councillor in Merton, also expressed her gratitude to the Labour Party for “acting swiftly to investigate”. Although it probably wasn’t so swift, if they only suspended the process after Crick’s Twitter bomb.

Dog’s dinner: Joel ‘Bodger’ Bodmer has the backing of MP Steve Reed

Another shortlistee, Joel Bodmer, who has never been elected to any public office, later issued a statement that appeared very similar to that from Irons.

Bodmer is known as “Bodger” in Croydon Labour circles because of his disastrous part in the 2022 mayoral and local election defeats, when he chaired the Local Campaign Forum.

In his statement, Bodger made the claim that “I had reported to the party some discrepancies I had noticed.” Which is the first time he has mentioned it – perhaps he could share these reports with Inside Croydon and Michael Crick?

The fourth person on the shortlist, Johnson Situ, had not made any public statement on the selection situation by the time of publication. But then, in the build-up to the selection showdown meeting due on November 25, Situ had tweeted nothing for a week… Maybe he’s just given up? Who could blame him?

There is speculation now that the whole matter will be taken out of the hands of the new Croydon East local party, and that London Region or General Secretary David Evans and Labour’s National Executive Committee might step in and appoint the parliamentary candidate for the new constituency.

Which is, after all, what it appears they have been trying to do all along…

Read more: Labour cancels Croydon selection after voting fraud claims
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
Read more: The fix is in: Labour excludes members from Croydon selection
Read more: Labour’s NEC imposes selection shortlist on Croydon East

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