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Perry couldn’t fix the finances because he can’t even add up

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Doesn’t add up: one of the increasingly desperate social media postings from Jason Perry and Croydon Tories has percentages of … 127.9.

As the Town Hall election campaign enters its final days, the simperingly pathetic ‘give me another chance’ messaging from failed Mayor Jason Perry has got increasingly desperate. And deceitful.
WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports

It’s no wonder Croydon’s Mayor Jason Perry failed to fix the finances. He obviously has no idea about maths.

As the Croydon Town Hall election campaign entered its final stages, the social media outpourings from Perry’s Croydon Conservatives have become increasingly desperate and deceitful.

Friendless: Jason Perry has hiked Council Tax yet the council’s debt has increased on his watch

There is the boastful nonsense about how under Mayor Perry, Croydon’s parks now have a grand total of four Green Flags, when the borough has 127 parks and open spaces. That equates to 3% of Croydon’s parks that, under Perry, have the Green Flag seal of approval. So not much to boast about. But then, Perry’s administration has very little to boast about.

Then there’s piss-poor Perry’s claim to have removed six troublesome Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, when the truth of the matter is that he was ordered to do so by a High Court judge, whose written judgement ridiculed pompous Perry for his public remarks. Cost to Croydon residents for this particular example of Perry’s incompetence? Just another £10million that our cash-strapped council can ill-afford.

The man who promised in 2022 “to fix the finances” has in fact increased the council’s debt burden in four years, from £1.4billion to £1.7billion.

That’s despite hiking residents’ Council Tax bills by 33% to record levels. Earlier this year, Perry had his begging bowl out to central government again, this time for another £119million of emergency borrowing.

But as well as all the lies and half-truths, as the part-time Mayor struggles to cling on to his £86,000 full-time salary, there’s also been the eye-wateringly incompetent posts which reflect the dire bungling of Perry’s administration.

How to claim an LTN refund from Croydon Council

The Liberal Democrats have a well-deserved reputation for using misleading bar graphs in their campaign literature.

Tory Perry has tried the same tactic. But Perry’s graph just doesn’t add up.

“Fresh analysis has recently been published,” the Tories’ preamble states, “and it contains a clear warning for anyone who does not want to see Labour back in charge.”

The Tory “warning” is above a bar chart that shows the Conservatives on 50.4%, and Labour on 49.6%.

Which is intriguing, because the Conservatives have not been ahead in any opinion polls in Croydon for the past six months or more. So the bar chart is, of itself, a lie, misrepresenting the workings of all major polling companies.

Worse, Perry’s chart shows a worrying lack of understanding of how percentages work.

Perry’s graph just doesn’t add up – much like his handling of the council finances.

Another Tory lie: this graph distributed by Conservative candidate Jason Perry is deliberately misleading, and omits hundreds of millions of pounds of extra borrowing

The Tory and Labour percentages add up to 100%, and as any school-age child will tell you, “per cent” means “out of 100”. Yet the Tory bar chart, with other parties factored in, adds up to 127.9.

So what is this “fresh analysis” that the Tories’ nonsense graph purports to illustrate?

The small print suggests that they have taken their figures from JL Partners polling published on April 14. That’s just another Tory lie.

Inside Croydon went back to the raw figures in the JL Partners polling published in mid-April.

In their England MRP estimates, JL Partners show the Conservatives in Croydon on just

27.6%

That’s a lot less than Perry’s claimed 50.4%. Which makes it another Tory lie.

In the same poll, JL Partners have Labour in Croydon on 33.3%. That’s a lot different from the Tory graph’s 49.6%. Another Tory lie.

But 33.3% v 27.6% would put Labour ahead of the Conservatives in Croydon, not fractionally behind them as in Perry’s graph. So another Tory lie.

The JL Partners polling in mid-April (and opinions have shifted since then, as iC has reported) had the Greens on 12%, the LibDems on 11.4% and Reform on 11.5%. All different from the figures quoted in Perry’s online propaganda. So more Tory lies.

Though at least the figures from the pollsters at JL Partners for the five leading parties add up to 95.8%. Reassuringly below 100%. Unlike failed Mayor Perry and the incompetent and increasingly desperate Tories.

Thing is, this particular social media leaflet appears to be aimed at Tory supporters who might be considering voting for Farage’s grifters and tax dodgers. Given the existing dissatisfaction after four years of Perry’s clusterfucks, the multiple lies and deceits in one simple bar chart might be just enough to make up voters’ minds for them – and so not vote for four more years of Tory failure.

Read more: Polls tighten in Town Hall race as Farage’s grifters get closer
Read more: Perry didn’t ‘fix the finances’. He’s increased debt to £1.7bn
Read more: Perry dodges scrutiny as council delays refunds of LTN fines
Read more: Commissioners: council lacks focus and robust delivery plans
Read more: Perry’s libraries legacy of unsigned leases and works not done

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