The count for three of Croydon’s parliamentary constituencies after voting closes in the General Election on July 4 will take place in the council’s offices at Fisher’s Folly, it has been decided.
Crystal palace: Fisher’s Folly is, at least, a more accessible venue
It will be the first time since the office building, sometimes referred to as Bernard Wetherill House, has ever been used for an election count since it was opened more than a decade ago.
The conduct of Croydon’s election count will be under particular scrutiny, following the notoriously slow and mismanaged tallying of the votes in the local elections in May 2022 which led to some stern criticism of Katherine Kerswell, the council’s chief executive who pockets tens of thousands of pounds extra each election as the borough’s returning officer.
Candidates and their election agents were advised of the choice of venue yesterday.
“I am writing to confirm that the venue for the Croydon East, Croydon South and Croydon West constituencies will be the Croydon Council offices at Bernard Weatherill House, 8 Mint Walk, Croydon, CR0 1EA,” wrote Seth Aker, the council’s head of electoral services.
In recent years, the council has rented out halls and gyms at Trinity private school in Shirley Park, but it was decided after the May 2022 shambles not to return there. One of the problems encountered in the over-running count two years ago was that Kerswell had failed to anticipate that the process would take so long, and had failed to book the school halls for use as the count – for the borough’s executive mayor and 70 councillors – stretched into a fourth day.
The office: the election count on July 4 and 5 for Croydon East, Croydon West and Croydon South may have to be held across more than one floor of Fisher’s Folly
The Fairfield Halls have been used for election counts in the past, but are not available on July 4 and 5 this year because of other events already booked in.
There are some reservations about the suitability of Fisher’s Folly as a count venue. As an office building, it is not as spacious on each floor as the alternatives, and several floors in the building are leased by commercial tenants, which makes it not entirely secure for election purposes.
There are questions, too, about the facilities available for the hundreds of count staff, candidates, their teams, and the media: Fisher’s Folly first became notorious for having gold-plated taps and leaking sinks in its toilets.
There will also be a need to provide refreshment facilities for attendees working through the night.
Fisher’s Folly does, however, have the advantage of being in the town centre and much more easily accessible for many people than Trinity School, and it also has plenty of car parking spaces available.
Perhaps most important of all for Croydon’s cash-strapped council: the costs of using the council’s own venue will be much lower than hiring another venue.
The count for the other Croydon constituency, Streatham and Croydon North, is being run by Lambeth Council.
Read more: Criticism of Kerswell’s election count ‘justified’ says report
Read more: From bankrupt to laughing stock as council count continues
Read more: Eye! Eye! Council offices’ £144m cost is attracting attention
For more information on where to vote on July 4 and for the full list of who is standing for election in your constituency, use our widget here:
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
FREE ADS: Paid-up subscribers to Inside Croydon qualify for a free ad for their business, residents’ association or community group, just one of the benefits of being part of our online community. For more information about being an iC subscriber, click here for our Patreon page
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our near 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, which is featured on Google News Showcase and followed by 16,000 on Twitter/X, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for a SEVENTH successive year in the annual round-up of civic cock-ups in Private Eye magazine
Perhaps she is going for full media attention for the Council by holding the count in house under her full control. The media will be asking why does Croydon have to wait till Monday morning to find out it’s election results. She clearly believes in the old adage. No publicity is bad publicity in pushing Croydon onto the world outside.
The headline should have ended from the fifth word.
Having worked in FF, I’m struggling to think where the count could, realistically, be held. Getting the boxes in is going to be a nightmare, you’d have to divert the buses I’d assume? You’d probably have to segregate the 3 counts across multiple floors… I can only assume, like the 2022 count, that she forgot to make the booking with the appropriate level of contingency.
You worked in FFS? Or am I reading this incorrectly?
You’re reading it incorrectly