Category Archives: 2021 Mayor Referendum

Careful what you wish for: Town Hall deadlock would be chaos

Posted on January 15, 2022 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: With four months until the local elections and first-ever Mayoral election in Croydon, here local Conservative Party member BEN GADSBY says that the voting outcome is not a foregone conclusion In 16 weeks, Croydon will have its first-ever … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Croydon Council, Jason Perry, Val Shawcross | 6 Comments

Croydon 2021: voter apathy, petrol queues and dodgy deals

Posted on December 31, 2021 by insidecroydon

DID WE HAVE NEWS FOR YOU: In our final instalment of our annual review of the stories that attracted the most attention in 2021, we reach the season of missed opportunities and not much fruitfulness, as far as Croydon Labour … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Fairfield Halls, Hamida Ali, Jo Negrini, Paul Scott, Planning, Sean Fitzsimons, Steve Reed MP, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Wendy's | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mayoral referendum: how Croydon voted, ward-by-ward

Posted on October 19, 2021 by insidecroydon

The council last night released the figures by ward of how Croydon residents voted in October 7’s Mayoral referendum. We already knew that the thumping 80% majority across the whole borough, and defeats in all 28 wards, was very bad … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Croydon Council, New Addington, New Addington North, Sanderstead, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The referendum result shows that time for change is overdue

Posted on October 12, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: Last week’s decisive vote for a new way of running the council should only be a first step, according to an open letter to all the borough’s councillors from Kenley resident BRIAN WATSON Now that a directly elected … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tories go for more of the same as Perry wins by three votes

Posted on October 11, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Any delusions that having a directly elected mayor might be anything other than #ABitLessShit were quickly dispelled yesterday as the local Tories reverted to type. EXCLUSIVE By STEVEN DOWNES Croydon’s Conservatives have selected Jason Perry, the South … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Andrew Stranack, Jason Perry | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Labour MP Reed accused of ‘bad politics’ by Blairite peer

Posted on October 9, 2021 by insidecroydon

Blocked council candidate Jamie Audsley makes opening pitch to be Labour’s candidate for mayor in May 2022. EXCLUSIVE by WALTER CRONXITE, political editor The fall-out from Croydon Labour’s disastrous and costly anti-mayor campaign cranked up a gear yesterday as Lord … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Bensham Manor, Croydon North, Jamie Audsley, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Ali’s efforts at spin catch the eye of not-so-noble judges

Posted on October 9, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: In a week when two journalists were announced as winners for the Nobel Peace Prize for their courageous work in fighting for freedom of speech against despots, GEOFF JAMES reports on a less well-publicised award-winning effort Nobel Prizes … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Hamida Ali | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

After defeat, pressure mounts on ‘lame duck’ council leader

Posted on October 8, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: ‘We mocked the electorate by putting burning £20 notes on our election material’. What now for Croydon Labour, after a nasty and petty waste of around £20,000 in party funds on a referendum campaign they could never … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Andrew Pelling, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Croydon votes 4-to-1 in favour of having directly elected mayor

Posted on October 8, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: After a disastrously run, high-spending campaign by Labour opposing change, every ward in the borough voted for a new way of running the council. By STEVEN DOWNES Katherine Kerswell took to the low stage at Trinity School … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Katherine Kerswell, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Use our free voting widget if you have not received poll card

Posted on October 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

Find election information at WhoCanIVoteFor.co.uk Make sure you use Inside Croydon’s essential voting day widget. That, effectively, was the message being issued last night from the propaganda bunker at Fisher’s Folly on the eve of the borough-wide governance referendum by … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Nothing adds up as Labour plays numbers game over mayor

Posted on October 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: On the eve of polling day, the many shortcomings of a shambolic and expensive campaign waged by Labour to oppose a change to an elected mayor seem about to be exposed. By STEVEN DOWNES The same people who … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Referendum offers us a chance for consensus in Croydon

Posted on October 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: Last week, Labour’s Leila Ben-Hassel offered her reasons for opposing a change in the way the council is governed. With the borough-wide referendum being staged tomorrow, resident – and voter – IAN KIERANS questions the councillor’s arguments Councillor … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Leila Ben-Hassel, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Has Labour already lined up its candidate for elected mayor?

Posted on October 4, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The governance referendum is not until Thursday, but despite officially opposing the proposal to move to a directly elected mayor, some senior Labour figures may have already moved to find a candidate to stand for the office … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Croydon Central, Croydon North, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

‘If you want something better, then you have to vote for it’

Posted on October 4, 2021 by insidecroydon

REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: With just days to go before the borough-wide ballot, PETER UNDERWOOD, pictured right, offers a Green Party perspective on the governance of the council We all know that Croydon Council is useless. On Thursday, we are being offered … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Greens, Peter Underwood | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

Further £38.4m to be sliced from next year’s council budget

Posted on October 1, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Town Hall leadership hoped to keep the latest round of cuts secret until after next week’s referendum, as the consequences of the borough’s bankruptcy start to hit home. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES £12m of adult social care … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Adult Social Care, Callton Young, Croydon Council, GLL - Better, Hamida Ali, Jason Cummings, Leisure services, Libraries, Purley Pool, Richard Ennis, Section 114 notice, Stuart King, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Council governance is poor due to lack of competent cultures

Posted on September 30, 2021 by insidecroydon

REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: Yesterday, we reported MP Steve Reed’s Labour Conference speech, where he made a strong case of devolving power – just not in his own constituency, where he has been arguing against a directly-elected mayor over the past few … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Leila Ben-Hassel, Norbury | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Reed tells nation what he won’t tell Croydon: trust the people

Posted on September 29, 2021 by insidecroydon

REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: Croydon’s Labour politicians continue to tie themselves in knots by opposing something which just happens to be their own party’s policy. WALTER CRONXITE, Political Editor, reports on a keynote speech made at the party’s Brighton Conference The inherent … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Louis Carserides, Paul Scott, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Labour councillor was given ‘no real reason’ for deselection

Posted on September 28, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The damaging ‘Groupthink’ culture under the toxic leadership of Tony Newman remains firmly in place at the Town Hall, where an elected official has told colleagues he was blocked from standing despite never breaking any rules. EXCLUSIVE … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Bensham Manor, Hamida Ali, Jamie Audsley, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

MP Reed admits live on air: ‘I’m not anti mayoral system’

Posted on September 24, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Ten minutes of radio featuring a live spat between two very well-paid politicians over why we do, or don’t, need another politician provided a splendid example of the self-serving futility of the borough’s political duopoly. By WALTER … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Town Hall leadership hatched plan to break election budget

Posted on September 22, 2021 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Labour councillors who crashed the borough’s finances decided to ignore the Election Commission’s strict rules on spending for their anti-mayor referendum campaign. By STEVEN DOWNES Hamida Ali, the leader of the Labour group at the council, wanted to break … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Reed goes video ga-ga as Labour campaign gets desperate

Posted on September 16, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: If the lies don’t get you angry, the cant and hypocrisy surely will. STEVEN DOWNES, Editor of Inside Croydon, on the barrel-scraping going on over next month’s mayoral referendum At a time when Michael Gove is put in … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Steve Reed MP, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

Planning chief wants to give permission to more blocks of flats

Posted on September 11, 2021 by insidecroydon

As Croydon Tories get their facts wrong (again) and heap praise on the borough’s planners, a council director warns that she wants to green-light more developments. By STEVEN DOWNES Heather Cheesbrough, Croydon’s planning chief, wants the council to grant even … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Business, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Heather Cheesbrough, Planning, Property, Richard Chatterjee, Shirley North | Tagged , , | 30 Comments

Labour official seeks to stop DEMOC using campaign leaflets

Posted on September 7, 2021 by insidecroydon

As Croydon Tories begin the process to select their candidate to stand for the borough’s first directly-elected mayor next May, KEN LEE, our Town Hall correspondent, reports on the local Labour Party’s latest effort to stifle debate While Croydon’s Conservatives … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Croydon Council, Croydon South, Hamida Ali, Jamie Audsley, Stuart King, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Starmer and Evans face impossible task with Croydon South

Posted on September 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

To win the next General Election, Labour needs to gain 124 seats. And Number 122 on the list of Labour target seats is Tory Chris Philp’s Croydon South constituency. Our sarf of the borough correspondent, PEARL LEE, looks at the … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 London elections, 2021 Mayor Referendum, 2022 council elections, Chris Philp MP, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Croydon South, David Evans, Hamida Ali, Jennifer Brathwaite, London-wide issues, Olga Fitzroy, Sarah Jones MP, Stuart King, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Make sure your pleas to power are never ignored again

Posted on September 4, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON COMMENTARY: With a little more than a month until the referendum over how we should choose future leaders of the council, MP CHRIS PHILP (pictured left) outlines why he’s supporting a change in the system Croydon Council’s politics are … Continue reading →

Posted in 2021 Mayor Referendum, Chris Philp MP, Community associations, Croydon Council, Croydon South | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments