Paul Ainscough, once a Labour parliamentary election candidate and a former councillor for the party, has been selected to stand for the Green Party at next year’s council elections in Fairfield ward. He says he “feels let down by Labour”.
New slate: the announcement of the three candidates for Fairfield ward in 2026
Fairfield ward is where the Greens won their first ever seats on Croydon Council in 2022, with Ria Patel and Esther Sutton, and the councillors will be on the ballot paper alongside Ainscough in May next year.
Ainscough’s move to the Green Party is another sign of the growing disaffection among grassroots members with Labour, as it increases taxes on the working poor, takes benefits from the vulnerable and disabled, yet does not increase tax for the wealthiest.
The quandary for Labour in Croydon is even greater because of the massive reputational damage done by former council leader Tony Newman and his cronies in bankrupting the borough, followed by scandals over selection rigging and data protection law breaches.
Ainscough was a Labour Party council candidate in Croydon in 2018.
In the past, he was a Labour parliamentary candidate for Wyre and a Labour councillor In Bury, Greater Manchester, where he served as deputy chair of housing and chair of the education committee.
Ainscough has been an occasional guest on Inside Croydon’s news podcast, the Croydon Insider.
Today he said: “I joined the Green Party because I want to develop and promote policies for a fair and sustainable society. Many people, including myself, feel let down by Labour. It’s a party that is going in completely the wrong direction under Starmer and Reeves.
“Here in Croydon, Labour has done nothing to oppose the Conservatives’ Council Tax hikes and even worked with the Conservatives to give themselves a pay rise.
“Croydon deserves better. The Green Party isn’t just fighting for a sustainable environment. It is fighting rent hikes, soaring bills and cuts to public services. That’s why I have given my support.”
The Green Party is in the process of selecting its candidate to run for executive Mayor of Croydon in 2026. In 2022, Peter Underwood ran for Mayor, polling 6.5% of votes cast and placing fifth in an election won by Jason Perry.
Read more: They voted to raise your Council Tax, then to increase their pay
Read more: Labour admits serious breach of private data in Croydon East
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
Read more: After 40 years as a one-team player, this year I voted Green
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Ainscough says he “feels let down by Labour”.
That’s a sentiment we can all share, when we consider what Newman and his numpties did to Croydon, and what that smarmy irritating wally Starmer is doing to the country now
When mentioning previous results (“In 2022, Peter Underwood ran for Mayor, polling 6.5% of votes cast and placing fifth in an election won by Jason Perry.”) it might be worth including the turnout stats too.
From what I know, the turnouts at local elections are very low and the number of people who didn’t vote could have a massive influence on results.
So when people read these articles they might think “I’ll vote next time.”.
It might, but it seems unlikely.
We’ll report the news the way we see fit. We’re not here to help the campaigning of political parties.
I think it’s worth picking up Mitsky’s point.
Out of an electorate of over 280,000, fewer than 59,000 Croydon voters took part in the October 2021 referendum on whether to have a directly elected Mayor.
Over three quarters of adults registered to vote just weren’t bothered, resulting in just 1 in 6 who wanted a Mayor getting their way.
At the May 2022 elections, just over a third of the Croydon people who could vote actually did so. Perry’s share meant he got in with support from just one voter in seven.
He has no mandate or popular support, despite what he tells himself – and us, at our considerable expense
Peter was unlucky last time out – falling victim to the “curse of the alphabetical order”. Smart move by Ainscough to be in a ward where the other Green candidates have names beginning with P and S.
For me, local elections are more important than national elections as they directly affect what happens on my doorstep. For a very long time now the political parties and the media link local elections to what whatever the colour of government in power is doing. Local issues are quite often different to nation issues which is why local councils require just as much consideration as national elections.
Make a effort to find out what the local issues are and use your judgement to decide what party you are going to vote for, as it is of no use complaining about the incumbent party at the town hall if you could not even bother to vote. Remember that it is about what is best for your borough and not how the country is being governed.
I think the example of North Korea is exemplary, 99.9% turnout all voting for Kim, that’s a mandate to represent the people!….??
It is good to hear that paul ainscough has left croydon labour party and joined the green party to be the green party candidate in the fairfield ward in may 2026 i have been receiving emails from rowenna davis the labour mayoral candidate she said looking at the polls it is labour for croydon why is labour so very cock sure of itself of winning again in croydon lets hope people begin to remember when it bankrupted the council the last time it was in control of the council i have supported labour in all the past elections but i will be giving my support to the green party in the mayoral and local elections in croydon in may 2026 as rowenna davis is so very cock sure of winning perhaps she she should look at some national opinion polls which the green party is now level with labour and in some cases has now overtaken the labour party support for the green party has risen dramatically across the country since zack polanski has become leader of the green party membership is now a massive 150 thousand past the conservative party membership more labour voters are now voting for the green party than for nigel farage and his reform party across the country lets give the greens a chance to win on croydon council join the country and say a massive no to labour and conservative its time for change