Part hustings, part Question Time: Cheryl Fergus-Ferrell was the charming chair of the first ever #DigitalDebate, recorded last night and now available for free via Inside Croydon’s Patreon platform
Our hustings correspondent, KEN TOWL, has seen plenty of pre-election meetings before, but never one quite like this, as Inside Croydon brings the candidate debate into the 21st Century
Charmingly chaired by Cheryl Fergus-Ferrell, this was like no other hustings I’ve seen. The three progressive candidates, Labour, Green and LibDem, disagreed agreeably over what to cut and what to promise, while the TTIP candidate failed to turn up for the interview but got offered a job anyway. Well, in the most hypothetical sense. See below.
The gloves did come off a couple of times, if only to reveal the mittens underneath. It turned out it was necessary for both Richard Howard of the Liberal Democrats and Peter Underwood of the Greens to concentrate their fire on Rowenna Davis, still the favourite to win the mayoralty, but only just – the odds on incumbent Jason Perry of the self-designated “Local Conservatives” have shortened hugely in the past week, presumably in the wake of the news that the government has earmarked senior diplomatic roles for not one but two friends-of-paedophiles.
If only Perry had accepted Inside Croydon’s invitation to defend his record, he might have shortened his odds still further. On the other hand, probably not.
There was a bit of a love-in between Howard and Underwood. When asked which rival mayoral candidate they would have in their council cabinet, hypothetically, if they absolutely had to, Howard, without a moment’s hesitation, said “Peter, without a moment’s hesitation.”
I was asking some of the questions, so I asked Peter if he would reciprocate.
Alas, no, it turns out. You can hear Underwood’s reasons for the rejection if you listen to the podcast. Davis picked the absent TTIP candidate Michael Pusey (aka DJ Ck Flash!).
“He could definitely run something to do with culture or sport,” she said. The reality is, of course, that if Davis wins the mayoralty, she won’t have to give a job to any of her rivals. The difference is that if Howard does, he probably will.
Howard tiptoed around Underwood, careful at one point, to avoid “stealing too many of Peter’s sandwiches”, as he condemned the pollution-belching Beddington incinerator almost as much as his Green rival. Once he got going, Howard was quite the wordsmith: “I do not believe,” he said, “that the better alternative to landfill is lungfill.” He was that keen to disassociate himself from some of the decisions of his fellow LibDems in Sutton, where the Viridor incinerator was built following a very dodgy planning process.
Equally keen to disassociate herself from her party predecessors was Davis. She was ambitious for Croydon. Howard snapped back that “Ambitious for Croydon” was the motto of disgraced Croydon Labour leader Tony Newman.
No show: TTIP’s Michael Pusey was a late withdrawal
Howard was keen not to let Davis disassociate herself from her Labour predecessors who, as we all know, bankrupted the borough. Sounding a little bit like Oliver Hardy, Howard claimed that “over-ambition got us into this mess”. Davis countered that she wanted to move in “a space between over-ambition and managed decline”. Underwood wanted to move into a space where there was no cabinet and, eventually, no mayor.
It got even more fraught (and, briefly, surreal) when the candidates were invited to fantasise about arresting Benyamin Netanyahu at a party in 2029 to celebrate the completion of the Westfield development.
Since Davis is not allowed by her party to describe the situation in Gaza as a genocide, even though, as a mum and an ex-teacher, she would very much like to, she decided to call it something else, which you can hear on the podcast.
The words she used represented a very strong condemnation of the IDF and the Israeli government, but they were not as strong as “genocide” or “war crime” and so did not satisfy Peter Underwood, who pointed out the legal implication, and indeed the honesty inherent in using the terms and, by implication, the dishonesty in not doing so.
In danger of eating another of Underwood’s supply of sandwiches, Major Howard wholeheartedly agreed with him and then made what was, quite frankly, a powerful speech from the point of view of a man who had served his country in combat and so knew what he was talking about.
Grumpy: Tory Jason Perry is afraid of being asked questions
Seriously, I urge you to listen to it. It was quite something. I cannot imagine the current mayor ever saying anything quite so important.
Anyway, you can judge for yourself. The podcast is well worth a listen, and it doesn’t even get boring. Fergus-Ferrell, a long-time panel member on Inside Croydon’s monthly Croydon Insider podcasts, keeps the flow flowing at just the right pace, so that you have three articulate, capable, decent people crossing swords but all, I think, with the best intentions to do their best for Croydon.
Any of them would be an improvement on what we currently have. But which one?
Have a listen, see if you can work it out…
- For the full list of candidates standing for Croydon Mayor, as published on the council website, click here
- For the full list of election candidates in the borough’s 28 wards, click here for the official listings on the council website
Read more: Fewer than 100 votes in it between Perry and Davis for Mayor
Read more: The state of politics is a tragedy. It’s important that you vote
Read more: Perry agrees to pay £½m to reclaim flats at Red Clover Gardens
Read more: 33% Council Tax increase: Mayor Perry’s legacy for Croydon
For more information on where to vote on May 7 and who is standing for election, use our widget here:
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, 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
ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2026, Croydon was named among the country’s rottenest boroughs for an EIGHTH time in nine years, in Private Eye magazine’s annual round-up of civic cock-ups
- Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
