Just who are these people wanting you to entrust them with your precious vote on May 7?
As KEN TOWL discovered, some appear very reluctant to let you know who they are, or what they really stand for
There’s this website Who Can I Vote For which provides a valuable service. It offers candidates in elections the opportunity to make a statement about themselves.
These are febrile days when party allegiance isn’t what it was, particularly for the Labour and Conservative duopoly. As recently as the 2017 general election, those two parties shared more than 80% of the vote. Now, in the polls, they share less than 40% between them.
That being the case, whocanivotefor.co.uk is particularly useful, since it offers an equal platform to all candidates, including those without access to a party machine, an army of leaflet deliverers and hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money.
In the modern, virtual world, a TUSC leaflet is as easy to find as a Tory one. Which is useful, since the thing about fringe parties is, well, they could be almost anyone.*
I have spent a few leisurely hours reading the statements of candidates in Croydon and here are some excerpts from some of the best, and worst, of them. I offer little in the way of comment but, instead, have let the candidates speak for themselves.
I have limited myself to those who are not part of either of the two teams that have taken turns to run Croydon (into the ground) in recent decades, partly because the main parties have the resources to get their message across to you under their own steam, and partly because hardly any of the Labour or Conservative candidates have bothered to post a statement anyway.
Not all of the other candidates have published statements, either.
Up in Bensham Manor, the independent Graham Mitchell hasn’t. He has, however, left his X address, @grahamm118, where we find that he is a non-political politician. “Independent voice for Bensham Manor,” he asserts, “#CR7 Already working hard for our community. All views my own. People, not politics!”
In his profile picture, he appears to be holding a fox, if that helps.
Frustrated: Christine Bigrigg
Over in Broad Green, Christine Bigrigg, of Reform Ltd, has published a statement, and in the first person. She is frustrated. Her frustration is palpable: “I am frustrated,” she says, “with the daily news of illegal migration, along with violence, crime and a government who appears to lack the political will to deal with situation.”
At the very north of the borough, in the Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood ward, 2022 breakthrough LibDem star Claire Bonham asserts that she is “delighted to have been selected to stand for election for the Liberal Democrats in Streatham and Croydon North”. Bonham has not updated her statement from the 2024 General Election. Presumably she still believes in people’s rights to “decent housing, clean air to breathe, green spaces to enjoy… and to feel safe”.
Standing against Bonham for the Green Party is Natalie Vesty. She, too, loves Crystal Palace, has lived there for eight years, and is a choir leader.
Also on the Green slate in Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, in what is government minister Steve Reed’s constituency, is Mark Adderley, who has no statement on whocanivotefor, though his social media offers his perspective of collaborative team work and public consultation based on his background in arts and the media.
Lights, camera, action: Mark Adderley has attracted criticism from Labour
Adderley is a director and producer, and is married to actor and writer Nadia Sawalha, who is also known as an outspoken activist, her views sometimes expressed on the daytime television programme, Loose Women.
Adderley’s presence on the slate has attracted some critical comments from political rivals (Reed’s Labour) for some previous social media posts expressing support for Palestine and opposing the genocide in Gaza.
Opposing them is Sue Millward, of Reform Ltd, who says she enjoys gardening, as well as “travelling and socialising with friends… and chatting with neighbours”. There is a hint of nostalgia in her statement, a yearning for another time: “I would like to see our area of London cleaned up and restored to how I remember it some years ago.”
In Fairfield, Reform hopeful Sujan Mukhiya appears to have resorted to AI to put together his rule-of-three-driven manifesto: “Professionally, I work in technology and data-driven problem-solving, where clarity, accountability, and results matter. These are values I want to bring into local decision-making. I am committed to cutting waste, improving service delivery, and championing a more transparent, resident-focused council.”
He is challenging the incumbents, two of whom, Ria Patel and Esther Sutton, as Croydon’s two Green Party councillors, like Mukhiya, also sit outside the Red-Blue tent. Aspiring to ride on their coat-tails and join them at the council is the brilliantly named Paul Wyn Ednyfed Ainscough. He is standing on a plague-on-both-your-houses platform because he is “angry with the way both Labour and the Conservatives have squandered the chance to improve the lives of Croydon residents on failed projects that have left the town bankrupt”.
Drawing a blank: it is impossible to know if this Jill Thomas is the same Jill Thomas who was the wife of Tory council cabinet member Phil Thomas
Also on the Reform Ltd slate in Fairfield is Jill Thomas.
As with very many of the record number of candidates – more than 350 – seeking election in the 70 available seats across the borough’s 28 wards in this year’s Croydon local election, there is no statement or picture of Jill Thomas, even on the usually excellent whocanivotefor.co.uk.
So it is impossible to know with any certainty whether it is the same Jill Thomas who was married to Phil Thomas, the long-time Conservative councillor and cabinet colleague of Jason Perry, who always made sure that residents in his ward got the drop kerbs they so desired. But it would not be unusual for a former Tory to be standing for Reform in these elections.
In New Addington North, voters have the option of an independent candidate.
This is Michael Castle, someone who has been around the block politically, at least the right side of it, and as recently as a couple of months ago was well-embedded with the Reform campaign group on his local patch.
Castle’s political journey: regular election candidate Michael Castle is standing in New Addington North as an independent – which could cost his former chums in Reform Ltd, and the Conservatives, a few dozen votes
Indeed, Michael Castle standing as an independent in New Addington North could do to Reform what Reform is likely to do to the Conservatives, and split their vote.
Michael Castle stood as an independent in a council by-election in 2021 and then as a Conservative in 2022. Each time he came third, which is unfortunate for Castle, as the ward has just two council seats. He is standing again as an independent, although, according to the Conservatives’ New Addington branch website, he is still deputy chairman (membership). Which is a tad awkward given his apparent closeness to rivals Reform as recently as January this year.
Castle has no statement and has a very low profile on the internet. The last time he appears to have said anything was 16 years ago when he stood (as an independent) for Croydon Central in the 2010 General Election. Interviewed for a local paper, he was asked what item he would take with him to a desert island. He answered, “My BlackBerry fully charged, so I can send an SOS with my longitude and latitude and GPS location, I’ll use survival skills to get food.”
His survival skills have served him well. He is, quite literally, still standing.
In Norbury Park, you can vote for Maria Evans, who “immigrated to UK in 2014” from her homeland of South Africa. She is no foreigner, however, because she “was given British Citizenship upon marrying [her] Liverpool born husband in 1972”.
It is, she claims, her “absolute resolve and intentional delight to if elected serve the residents of Norbury Park ward in accordance with the mandate of Reform UK’s Croydon comprehensive set of policies designed to deliver a safer, more prosperous, and resident-focused future for the borough ensuring urgent practical solutions, fiscal discipline, and community empowerment.” That rule-of-three, again…
Are you local?: this may, or may not, be Daniel Paterson
Over in Selhurst, Brian Putman begins his statement in a friendly manner: “Hello,” he says, “my name is Brian.”
He is a good, local man and not a racist. We are, I think, expected to infer this from his second sentence. He is “an English Christian who has lived in Selhurst since 2011 and married a Nigerian woman in South Norwood in 2015”. As befits a modern man, he is tech-savvy, too. If elected, he “will work with council cabinet members and staff to redesign a functional and modern website” for Croydon Council.
In Selsdon and Addington Village, Daniel Paterson is a local candidate for local people. He has “lived in the local area for the past 41 years…seen first-hand the decline of our local communities”. He believes “local people deserve to have their voices heard” and he wants to “support local businesses” and “put local people first”.
He is the Reform Ltd candidate and also not a racist.
In the same ward, also Reform Ltd, and also probably not a racist, is Graeme Stobart, a man who likes a capital letter, but not for himself. His use of the lower case i suggests a healthy degree of modesty: “If Elected i will put Community needs front and centre with common sense,a can do attitude,hard work and Empathy being my watch words.I will Seek more bang for your Buck.” Sic.
Shirley candidate: Ellie Harrison
Standing at a different point along the political spectrum, and in a different part of the borough – Shirley North – is Ellie Harrison, Croydon’s sole Equality Party candidate.
You can tell she is at a different point along the political spectrum because she says, “Fearmongering, division, and hate are rife in national politics” and she appears to be against all three. Three is also the number of Equality Party councillors in the UK, one in Scotland, two in Cheshire. Will there be a fourth in Croydon after May 7?
In South Norwood we find Taking the Initiative Party mayoral candidate Michael Pusey (pictured below) also standing for election to be a councillor. The rules say you can’t be both.
Pusey underwhelmed at the recent Croydon Business Association mayoral hustings.
Here is his entire statement: ”It’s time for real change. If you care about safe neighborhoods, affordable housing, thriving high streets, and fair council taxes—it’s time to vote for leadership that actually listens to YOU. Meet your TTIP Mayoral Candidate, Michael Pusey MBE. He’s ready to fight for our community, restore pride to our streets, and bring total transparency back to local government. Plus, he’s an all-around nice guy! 🤝💜”
Emojis in a political statement? A first for me.
They appear to be a golden handshake and a purple heart. The former, an executive pay-off, is all too familiar in Croydon to those of us who have followed the golden handshakes given to council CEOs Negrini and Kerswell. The latter, a medal given to US military personnel who have been wounded in combat, less so.
Several TTIP candidates are standing across the north of the borough but only Pusey has issued a statement. More information is available on the TTIP website. Here we learn that Pusey is “known to many as CK Flash” and not much else.
The TTIP site features a lot of words that say very little. “The Taking the Initiative Party was established by a group of British business people…” they begin.
In summary, they are “politically homeless” and they want to make things better. It is difficult to see how they intend to do this because they don’t tell us what they have in mind. I expect the promised “total transparency” will come later.
Your candidate: Mel Mullings
Over in Thornton Heath is London Underground train driver Mel Mullings for Your Party. She is “explicitly socialist”. She is not here to be polite, she exclaims in her statement, a programme for the radical transformation of Croydon or, failing that, Thornton Heath, into a place of “Autonomous Prosperity” by leading “a working-class takeover of our local economy.”
She is the “No Cuts” candidate, she says, because she refuses “to accept the lie that there is no money. There is plenty of money; it’s just in the wrong pockets.”
So there you have it, from the horses’ mouths, the promises and ideas of some of the candidates of all politics and none. The way things are going, some of these candidates might find themselves sitting in the Town Hall Chamber in a month’s time, supposedly holding the Mayor to account.
What will they make of the Mayor, and what will they make of them?
*In fact, this was not true; neither of the TUSC candidates nor the Workers’ Party had taken the trouble to post a statement.
- Tomorrow, April 20, is the last day for you to get registered to be able to vote on May 7. It is a simple, online process that takes just a few minutes. To find out more, click here
Read more: The ex-Tories standing for Reform all set for New Addington
Read more: Labour forces Davis to erase ‘genocide’ from her manifesto
Read more: Reform Kenley candidate’s ‘dangerous’ covid conspiracy views
Read more: Farage party picked a dead woman to run for Croydon Mayor
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