At least two of Labour’s sitting councillors have been deselected by party chiefs in a brutal process that has opted to discard the combined experience of 40 years’ service at the Town Hall
EXCLUSIVE by WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor
The selection process for candidates to stand for Labour in next May’s local elections took a brutal twist at the weekend, with the soft thud of rejection notices hitting the virtual inboxes of at least two, maybe more, sitting councillors.
Inside Croydon has received information and confirmations from usually reliable sources that Karen Jewitt and Patsy Cummings are among those to have had their applications to stand again in May 2026 rejected.
Women councillors. Including one of colour. Between them, at least 40 years’ combined experience as councillors in Croydon. Hardly a good look. And a long way from a glowing endorsement of Labour’s current Town Hall team.
Inside Croydon has reported previously of an unusually high number of councillors, including cabinet and shadow cabinet members from Conservative and Labour groups at the Town Hall, who have chosen to stand down when their term of office ends next May. For Labour, these include Callton Young, the current deputy leader of the Town Hall opposition, and Stuart Collins, Tony Newman’s former deputy leader of the council.
In all, Inside Croydon is aware of seven of the 34 current Labour councillors who have chosen not to seek selection by their party. The non-selections means Labour will be losing almost 30% of its current crew of councillors.
Jewitt and Cummings were keen to continue as councillors.
But the Labour Party at regional and national level still do not trust their colleagues in Croydon to manage their own affairs, and certainly not to select candidates for local elections.
Croydon’s LCF – the supposedly influential Local Campaign Forum committee of apparatchiks from across the borough’s Constituency Labour Parties, who are supposed to oversee candidate selections and campaign strategies for all elections – has not had a formal meeting since the General Election in July 2024.
As Inside Croydon has reported, the all-powerful National Executive Committee and London region officials have taken on the task of drawing up shortlists from which members in the party’s ward branches will get to choose the candidates to represent them. What has all the appearances of a very bureaucratic Hobson’s choice.
Campaigning is already well underway for the May 2026 elections, with the larger political parties having all declared their candidates for Croydon Mayor.
Rejected: Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood councillor Patsy Cummings
Croydon’s local elections, including votes for 70 councillors, are due to be held on Thursday, May 7, 2026, alongside the borough’s second mayoral election.
But finding candidates to stand across the borough’s 28 wards may prove less-than-straightforward in the aftermath of the council’s financial collapse, especially for Labour, where party member numbers nationally have been in a tailspin despite last year’s General Election victory.
Or, more likely, because of what Keir Starmer’s party has done since forming the government.
Before their deadline for applications, Croydon Labour was sending out increasingly desperate-sounding pleas for people to come forward as possible candidates for the local elections to be held on May 7. “We need hardworking candidates from all backgrounds and experiences to help Rowenna and Labour win in 2026 and put People First in Croydon,” the local organiser wrote.
Just not the hardworking Thornton Heath councillor Jewitt, nor the experience and background offered by Cummings.
Other erstwhile loyal Labour members from minority backgrounds have also advised that they have also been blocked from selection, they allege because of adverse reports from their party branch – potentially written by possible rivals for selection in the same ward.
With Croydon Labour members being denied any say in the process so far, the potential for manipulation and fixes appears considerable. Croydon East CLP remains at the centre of a police investigation into data manipulation over their parliamentary candidate selection from November 2023.
Today, Jewitt and Cummings have been contacted for comment. Neither responded.
Patsy Cummings has been a Croydon councillor since 2017, but is already on her second ward (Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood), having failed to be reselected to stand in South Norwood in 2022. As a former staffer in Jeremy Corbyn’s office when he was party leader, the motivation for her deselection by current party chiefs is probably more obvious.
Rejected: Karen Jewitt has been a councillor for 30 years
For Jewitt, the rejection was a double-blow: as the manager of a local charity, she was already busy on Friday with the fall-out from losing premises for regular lunches for the elderly and disabled at Spurgeon’s College.
Jewitt has been a councillor in Croydon since 1994, first for Woodside and since 2014 for Thornton Heath ward.
Jewitt has been victim of internal Labour shenanigans before, being ousted from the selection process for Woodside ward 12 years ago when her “colleague”, Newman, wanted to hand a safe seat to the then “rising star”, Hamida Ali.
The former chair of the finance and general purposes committee, Jewitt blotted her copybook badly two years ago, using a rare opportunity to make a speech at full council in which she defended the conduct of Simon Hall, Newman’s cabinet member for finance.
But she remains respected among the clients of her charity, and by many of the residents of her ward, as a hard-working community worker, as demonstrated by her case load of councillor work. For the past two years, Jewitt has topped the listings for the greatest amount of casework undertaken among all Croydon’s 70 councillors.
Not, apparently, that that counts for much with the Labour Party.
Read more: Labour councillor’s Friends of Israel pose starts selection row
Read more: Fix! Internal Labour inquiry confirms selection stitch-up
Read more: #TheLabourFiles: MP Reed, Evans and the Croydon connection
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No matter their gender, no matter their colour, if they were part of the crew who crashed Croydons finances, I will not be shedding tears. However, from other quarters, I have heard positive things about councillor Patsy Cummings.
The ones who crashed Croydon’s finances got away with it. Labour did not discipline or expel the gang of four, Newman, Hall, Butler and Scott. They were allowed to stand down. Some of the others involved hold senior well-paid Shadow Cabinet positions in the Council
Having known Cllr Karen Jewitt since 1994 and she has been a model example of what a publicly elected official should be then and now. Only last year was her performance https://insidecroydon.com/2024/05/16/toss-cars-2024-how-much-work-has-your-councillor-done/ She was also in the top for Caseworkers too. A quick reminder of how the Councillors performed:
1, Karen Jewitt (Lab) 281
2, Stuart King (Lab) 251
3, Lynne Hale (Con) 163
4, Sami Dwesar (Con) 152
5, Claire Bonham (LibDem) 150
6, Margaret Bird (Con) 140
7, Mike Bonello (Lab) 137
8, Simon Fox (Con) 132
9, Rowenna Davis (Lab) 117
10, Gayle Gander (Con) 114
If Labour want a win in Croydon, they need to be serious about how they manage this selection process.
Update!!!
https://insidecroydon.com/2025/07/04/jewitt-tops-councillor-charts-for-a-second-successive-year/ Karen Jewitt has topped the table for the second year running as the Croydon councillor who has done most casework.
And it wasn’t even close.
For the period covered, Jewitt, a back-bench Labour councillor for Thornton Heath ward, submitted an astonishing 400 members’ enquiries – questions to Town Hall staff about aspects of her residents’ lives and council services. Over the 15-month period our Freedom of Information request covered, that works out at almost 27 enquiries per month.
Sort out yourself Labour. You are losing loyal voters by the bucketloads. Do you really think getting rid of committed councillors like Karen and Patsy are the way to win an election?
It is very strange if they are having difficulty attracting candidates to stand that they are axing long term established councillors as a response. Really suggests the malaise and ineptitude at the heart of Labour’s political decison making. It’s all very well claiming that any criticism of their policies is simplistic populism, but if they can’t even see where they are going with their practice of unpopulism, along with taking their vote for granted that where this is going to end up for them.
Karen Jewitt has served as a Thornton Heath Councillor for several years and quite frankly is the most active of our three ward councillors! Whenever issues are reported to her, she takes them up and gets results! She knows our community well as she ran a pop.in for local older people and Elders with learning disabilities, before it was abruptly left without a venue with the closure of Spurgeons. I doubt if her replacement will be able to do half of what she does! I certainly won’t be voting for them!
I am not at all surprised at this decision by London Labour and the NEC however more should follow, if Labour wants to be successful at the next local elections a cull of all those who held office during Newman and his gangs reign should go. New candidates without that baggage and who will put people before the creaking Labour Party are needed. If not candidates from “ Your Party” and Independents should stand.
I’m sure that Patsy would win as a Your Party candidate.
Labour in Croydon are so toxic. They destroyed this town – nobody should be supporting them.
They’re probably now trying to distance themselves even further from the Newman/Hall disaster.
I really don’t understand how Cllr Karen Jewitt can be deselected especially as one of the very few Councillors who put people first. Her work and impact in the community speaks for itself.
Her work and passion extend beyond her own charity as she tirelessly advocates and support many VCS and residents. Cllr Karen’s contribution to Croydon is nothing short of extraordinary.
It’ll be interesting to see who London Labour deem to be better candidates than these two long serving councillors.
You report the Local Campaign Forum has not met since 2024. Plus ça change!
I’ve known Karen for about 15 years and had dealings with her both personally and professionally. In all aspects, even when we disagreed, she has been utterly on the side of the community she represents. This is a massive loss to that community.
Labour have not only lost their way nationally but also locally. This is an utter disgrace.
To see a woman be a part of various charity work and truly place the people’s will before her own be deselected amongst a cohort that is meant to uphold these actions is disappointing.
Disagreeable decisions that were made by many shouldn’t outshine the good works of one, but should be praised! Thank you Councillor Karen Jewitt for your 30 years of service.
In all, 7 sitting Labour councillors failed their panels.
It’s much more accurate to say that the LCF has failed to meet since it’s Chair, Carol Bonner, was suspended from the party and had her devices seized for interfering in the East Croydon selection in March 2024.
How do you ‘fail your panel’? And how do you pass? Is it more down to who in power you’ve fallen out with or have sucked up to?
What’s the equality impact been with 7 serving councillors thrown overboard?
Panels are independent of the local structure. Most obviously, being part of the Newman administration, or vocally supporting it despite the manifest issues. Other issues considered will be attendance, behaviour, voting record, and public statements.
There is no equality requirement for Labour Groups, beyond aims, because councillors are selected by members, and this is not a predictable process. All women lists are possible but unlikely with 19 women already seated.
Every ward is supposed to have at least one woman candidate on the Labour list: so women candidates are routinely selected first, and then any remaining women candidates contest the remaining one or two places alongside male applicants.
Seven? Name them.
It’s more accurate to say Croydon East (the name of the CLP, not the railway stattion).
Anyone seen Carole Bonner lately?
Ms Bonner hasn’t been allowed at party meetings since March, but is still attending social events because powerful people locally don’t want anyone to know she’s suspended.
So you were wrong about seven deselections then?
We discourage anonymous commenters, to the point of blocking them, especially when they try to use this website as a platform for misleading and inaccurate remarks. So, reveal your true identity. Put a name to your mystery seventh deselection, or toddle off to NextDoor with all the other unaccountable keyboard onanists.
The incredible decision to deselect Karen Jewitt, after 30 plus years of dedicated service to the people of Woodside and Thornton Heath wards highlights the way the Labour Party, both nationally and locally, seem to be dealing with members who somehow do not fit into the current Labour Party mould.
Your article refers to the fact that Karen has, ‘for the past two years topped the listings for the greatest amount of casework undertaken by all Croydon’s councillors’. Many people in Thornton Heath cite her as the only ward councillor they can trust to deal with issues they bring to the notice of all three of their elected members. It seems then that the biggest losers will be constituents – well done the Labour Party for disaffecting nearly 13,000 potential voters. Has the large majority gained at last year’s general election gone to their head?
I have known Karen, as a personal friend, for more than 40 years and she has always stood for fairness and equality. She and her husband set up a charity sending aid to Romania, working tirelessly to raise funds and spending their own family holiday time to ensure safe delivery. I remember her service to her community before she became a councillor, as a bereaved mother supporting other bereaved parents.
If someone needed her help, you could always rely on Karen to be there and get a job done. I remember her absolute dedication to the Labour party long before she was elected to Woodside Ward in 1994. I remember her pride at being selected and then elected to her seat in Woodside. She was even prouder, if that is possible, at becoming a representative in her own ward of Thornton Heath. Once elected, I remember her supporting victims of rape and sexual assault when working for RASASC.
I remember how proud she was at being appointed the first Head of Women’s and Equalities to the council and the commitment she gave to the post, especially in setting up networks with other councils. During this time, I remember Karen’s devotion to her job at London Wildcare. Because of her knowledge and wide list of contacts, she is still the person get in touch with if someone needs signposting after finding a sick or injured animal or bird.
And… last but not least, I remember how she was instrumental in saving the old allotments in Whitehorse Meadow as a nature conservation area. It seems strange that I can remember a number of Karen’s achievements but the local Labour Party can’t. Is this because they are all ambitious Johnny Come Latelies?
In addition to her council duties, over the past 16 years, Karen has dedicated her time to running a charity lunch club for the elderly and those with learning disabilities. For the past two years, after council funding was axed, she has given her time voluntarily to a service that was much needed in her local area. Karen has literally spent the majority of her life supporting others with no regard to who they are or for herself. She should have been reselected with open arms for her dedication and hard work, I wonder if the Labour Party have any idea about what they have lost and turned their back on?
More fool them.
What an excellent piece of loyal advocacy for a long-term friend.
We hope that when Cllr Jewitt is provided with the reasons for her deselection, and her branch and chief whip reports, she will share them with us and Inside Croydon’s readers.
It was the stitch-up by Newman of Karen Jewitt’s Woodside candidacy in 2013 that first got us to look into Labour’s dodgy selection processes. Things have only got worse since.
Enoch Powell said “All political lives, unless they are cut off in midstream at a happy juncture, end in failure, because that is the nature of politics and of human affairs.”
With Croydon Labour, your political life doesn’t end in failure but betrayal, thanks to a clique making decisions in secret in their kangaroo courts