Category Archives: 2022 council elections

Kerswell’s election count will get off to a very slow start

WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on a sad end to another Croydon tradition Another decision by cash-strapped Croydon Council is responsible for the end of yet another tradition: Inside Croydon’s unrivalled and extensive dusk-to-dawn election night coverage of the count. That’s … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Croydon Council, Katherine Kerswell, Trinity School | Tagged , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Voters’ stark choice: scandal-hit Labour or scandal-hit Tories

In his latest column for Inside Croydon, ANDREW FISHER, looks ahead to the most intriguing contest in London’s local elections this year Labour mayoral candidate Val Shawcross has made no attempt to hide her frustration, at times bordering on contempt, … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Andrew Pelling, Jason Perry, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Dear New Mayor: time to come clean with council’s secrets

CROYDON COMMENTARY:  Whoever is elected on Thursday as the borough’s first Mayor will inherit an in-tray weighed down with a raft of controversial reports and investigations into missing millions, the details of which have been kept secret for far too … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Jason Perry, Robert Ward, Selsdon and Addington Village, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Police investigate Mayor candidate for ‘election offence’

The police have been asked to investigate a possible case of electoral fraud involving one of the candidates standing to become Croydon’s first executive Mayor in this Thursday’s local elections. A formal complaint has been filed to the Metropolitan Police … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Croydon Council | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Not for the first time, questions were better than the answers

And with a week to election day, the last of the set-piece hustings was staged at The Wreck at the Fairfield Halls last night. KEN TOWL, pictured right, went along, so that you wouldn’t have to… So what did we … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Fairfield Halls, Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, The Wreck, Val Shawcross, Winston McKenzie | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Stumped on the stump: candidates caught out over 2nd choice

It has been said that politics is a form of performance art… so using a stage in The Wreck for election hustings last night was quite appropriate. But it was one question that stole the show It was the first … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Jason Perry, Peter Underwood, Richard Howard, Val Shawcross, Winston McKenzie | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Labour ‘most worried’ about losing Croydon in local elections

As election day looms ever closer, WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, finds the borough’s third-rate politicians fretting over the possible loss of their first-rate council allowances Croydon Council is the London borough which the Labour Party says it is “most worried” … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe West, Brick by Brick, Chris Philp MP, Jason Perry, Jo Negrini, New Addington North, New Addington South, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

If councillors ask questions, we deserve to be given answers

CROYDON COMMENTARY: With election day a week away, Conservative councillor and member of the scrutiny committee, ROBERT WARD, offers a few ideas for any incoming Mayor Dear New Mayor, Congratulations on your election victory. You have an opportunity to make … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Croydon Council, Robert Ward, Sean Fitzsimons, Selsdon and Addington Village | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Tories’ record on policing numbers does not add up

Crime is an important issue in Croydon’s council and Mayoral elections. Or at least it should be. ANDREW FISHER polices the claims of the competing camps, and adds some essential context Policing matters. The amount of violent crime is higher … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Fisher, Boris Johnson, Broad Green, Chris Philp MP, Crime, Croydon BID, Dave Stringer, Fairfield, Jason Perry, Knife crime, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, New Addington North, New Addington South, Policing, Sadiq Khan, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Merton’s £50m education shortfall raises finance alarms

A south London council on the brink of financial collapse, getting a multi-million-pound bail-out from government, while being run by a new chief exec and with a rudderless Labour group where the leader isn’t standing for re-election in their old … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Education, London-wide issues, Mark Allison, Merton, Outside Croydon, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

20 safety officers axed in Croydon’s latest ‘cuts by stealth’

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Labour leadership wants to replace council staff with high street bounty hunters who get commission on every fine they issue, using a company that has been accused of ‘profiting from poverty’. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES Whoever is … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Business, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, Refuse collection, Whitgift Centre | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Half of Shawcross’ team helped keep Newman in power

CROYDON LABOUR IN CRISIS: There’s probably a reason that Val Shawcross has neglected to publish details of who is working on her very well-funded Mayoral election campaign: it includes seven councillors who helped to bankrupt the borough. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Carole Bonner, Chris Clark, Clive Fraser, Croydon North, Maddie Henson, Rowenna Davis, Sarah Jones MP, Sherwan Chowdhury, Simon Hall, Steve Reed MP, Stuart Collins, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Mayor candidate Shawcross’s ‘new’ direction not so new at all

Any ‘clean break’ with the incompetence and graft of the past at Croydon Town Hall that is being offered by Labour Mayoral candidate Val Shawcross appears doomed by her own campaign’s deep-rooted connections with discredited Tony Newman and some of … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Alisa Flemming, Brick by Brick, Broad Green, Business, Callton Young, Children's Services, Chris Clark, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, David Evans, Fairfield Halls, Fly tipping, Hamida Ali, Humayun Kabir, Karen Jewitt, Maddie Henson, Manju Shahul Hameed, Meals on Wheels, Planning, Refuse collection, Sarah Jones MP, Schools, Sean Fitzsimons, SEND, Sherwan Chowdhury, Steve Reed MP, Stuart Collins, Stuart King, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Mayor will have little say over borough’s rubbish contractors

CROYDON COMMENTARY: It is one of the biggest and most important services provided by any local council. But the manner in which the borough has outsourced the management of bin collections, street cleaning and waste disposal and recycling has become … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Business, Croydon Council, Fly tipping, idVerde, Kingston, London-wide issues, Merton, Peter Underwood, Refuse collection, Stuart Collins, Sutton Council, Val Shawcross, Veolia, Waste incinerator | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Labour staffer caught trying to cheat online election poll

CROYDON LABOUR IN CRISIS: Professional organiser resorts to devious methods to try to make Shawcross campaign look stronger. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES A paid Labour Party official – and a member of the campaign team for Val Shawcross, the party’s … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Andrew Pelling, Maddie Henson, South Croydon, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Council’s planning chief attempts to gag Mayor candidate

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Heather Cheesbrough has lied about her qualifications and covered up for planning staff with too-close connections with private developers. Now she’s trying to block an election candidate calling for her to be sacked. EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Croydon Council, Heather Cheesbrough, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Planning, Val Shawcross, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

Pat Ryan’s excess: veteran’s generous grants left unquestioned

The culture of secrecy and cover-ups in Croydon Labour meant that one councillor never did face any scrutiny over his misuse of thousands of pounds of public money to resurface a private road and to pay for equipment in a … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Nina Degrads, Pat Ryan, Stephen Mann, Steve Reed MP, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Even the Town Hall meetings don’t work at bankrupt council

In the time-honoured words of EJ Thribb, ‘And so farewell then…’. As many as 35 of the borough’s 70 councillors who were elected in 2018 won’t be Town Hall regulars after the May 5 elections. Political Editor WALTER CONXITE bids … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Andrew Pelling, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Hamida Ali, Stephen Mann, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tory councillor apologises after breaking his rubbish promise

The local election campaign is heating up, with accusations of sharp practice against some candidates. KEN LEE reports A Tory council candidate in a marginal ward has been forced to issue an apology after breaking a promise to local volunteers … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Jeet Bains | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Take your pick: our ward-by-ward guide to council elections

With a complete listing of all the candidates in Croydon’s May 5 councillor vote, political editor WALTER CRONXITE provides a guide to where the contest for the Town Hall might be won or lost The introduction of Croydon’s first democratically-elected, … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Alisa Flemming, Andrew Pelling, Badsha Quadir, Bensham Manor, Broad Green, Caragh Skipper, Chris Clark, Clive Fraser, Coulsdon, Croydon Council, Croydon Greens, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Esther Sutton, Fairfield, Felicity Flynn, Gareth Streeter, Hamida Ali, Helen Redfern, Jade Appleton, Jan Buttinger, Janet Campbell, Jason Perry, Jose Joseph, Kenley, Leila Ben-Hassel, Mike Bonello, New Addington North, Norbury, Norbury Park, Ola Kolade, Old Coulsdon, Oliver Lewis, Oni Oviri, Park Hill and Whitgift, Paul Scott, Peter Underwood, Purley, Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown, Sanderstead, Scott Roche, Selhurst, Selsdon and Addington Village, Selsdon Vale and Forestdale, Shirley North, Shirley South, Simon Hall, Simon Hoar, South Croydon, South Norwood, Stella Nabukeera, Steve Hollands, Stuart King, Thornton Heath, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman, Tony Pearson, Waddon, West Thornton, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Half of Sutton LibDem councillors quitting at May’s elections

Defending the indefensible, whether it is the dodgy deals over the council’s SDEN heat network, the appalling treatment of families with SEND children, or some of the ruling group’s more under-hand conduct, has taken its toll, writes our Civic Offices … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, Catherine Gray, Charlie Mansell, Elliot Colburn, Jayne McCoy, Jenny Batt, Neil Garratt, Nick Mattey, Outside Croydon, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Tim Crowley, Tom Drummond | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are you local? Tories seek distance from party-goer Boris

Conservatives in Croydon, hungry for power, are beginning to see the Prime Minister as an electoral liability. By political editor WALTER CRONXITE With election day in one month’s time, Croydon Conservatives, having been first to pick their Mayoral candidate and … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Bromley Council, Chris Philp MP, Croydon South, Ellie Reeves MP, Jason Perry, Lambeth Council, South Croydon, Sutton Council, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Turn your stroll to the ballot box into a march for rights

CROYDON COMMENTARY: The walk to your polling station for the local elections on May 5 can be used to improve accessibility to the countryside for thousands of people, says rambler MICHAEL HOWELLS Walking in nature improves our health and happiness, … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Walks | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tories accused of ‘pandering to prejudice’ over cycle lanes

The Conservatives’ Mayoral candidate is contradicting his own party leader over a roads improvement scheme in South Croydon Jason Perry, the Conservative candidate to become the first executive Mayor of Croydon, has launched a petition which warns against “traffic chaos” … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Boris Johnson, Cycling, Environment, Jason Perry, London-wide issues, Maria Gatland, Michael Neal, Parking, South Croydon, TfL, Transport, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Countdown to election gets underway with poll card dispatch

The poll cards for Croydon’s first Mayoral election on May 5 have been despatched, the council has announced. On May 5, residents will vote for an elected Mayor of Croydon for the first time. They will also vote for 70 … Continue reading

Posted in 2022 council elections, 2022 Croydon Mayor election | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment