Category Archives: Leila Ben-Hassel

And here are the Labour councillors who broke their word over the 15% tax hike and abandoned the people of Croydon

Posted on March 9, 2023 by insidecroydon

STUART KING. Leader of the opposition Councillor King took over as Labour group leader in May 2022. Had spent previous eight years mostly holding senior positions, including cabinet posts, in the Labour council administration of Tony Newman, Alison Butler and … Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Amy Foster, Brigitte Graham, Callton Young, Catherine Wilson, Chris Clark, Chrishni Reshekaron, Christopher Herman, Clive Fraser, Council Tax, Croydon Council, Enid Mollyneaux, Humayun Kabir, Humayun Kabir, Janet Campbell, Karen Jewitt, Kola Agboola, Leila Ben-Hassel, Louis Carserides, Maddie Henson, Manju Shahul Hameed, Mayor Jason Perry, Mike Bonello, Mohammed Islam, Nina Degrads, Patricia Hay-Justice, Patsy Cummings, Sean Fitzsimons, Sherwan Chowdhury, Stella Nabukeera, Stuart Collins, Stuart King, Tamar Nwafor, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Palace granted permission (again) for £100m stand at Selhurst

Posted on October 21, 2022 by insidecroydon

Back of the net! The result of last night’s planning committee meeting was never in doubt. But now Crystal Palace and their chairman Steve Parish have to seal a deal with Sainsbury’s. By our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE It … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Christopher Herman, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace FC, Football, Leila Ben-Hassel, Planning, Selhurst, South Norwood, Steve Parish | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

MP joins objectors as Heathfield House plans get called in

Posted on June 30, 2022 by insidecroydon

A council official-backed proposal to convert Heathfield House into a special school, surrounding it with 9ft-high prison-style fencing, has been “called in” for consideration by the planning committee. Today is the final day for residents and interested bodies to lodge … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon parks, Heathfield House, Leila Ben-Hassel, Planning, Sarah Jones MP, Schools | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on April 11, 2022 by insidecroydon

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

Veteran councillor Ryan is deselected while in hospital bed

Posted on November 6, 2021 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE, political editor, on the latest casualties of the council’s financial collapse Pat Ryan, a Croydon councillor for nearly 30 years, was last night deselected by members at a Labour Party meeting in his home ward of Crystal Palace … Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 council elections, Addiscombe East, Addiscombe West, Amy Foster, Bensham Manor, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Felicity Flynn, Hamida Ali, Humayun Kabir, Jerry Fitzpatrick, John Wentworth, Kola Agboola, Leila Ben-Hassel, Mike Bonello, New Addington, New Addington North, Nina Degrads, Norbury, Pat Ryan, Patsy Cummings, Shafi Khan, South Norwood, Steve Reed MP, Woodside | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Labour to pick their Mayor candidate just in time for Christmas

Posted on October 25, 2021 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: Political editor WALTER CRONXITE reveals how Labour is giving potential mayoral candidates barely a week to put themselves forward for a selection process which appears to have Steve Reed’s fingerprints all over it Anyone wanting to be considered as … Continue reading →

Posted in 2022 Croydon Mayor election, Alisa Flemming, Carole Bonner, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Croydon North, Hamida Ali, Jamie Audsley, Jason Perry, Leila Ben-Hassel, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP, Tony Newman, Val Shawcross | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 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

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

#Binmageddon: 1,000 street bins have vanished from borough

Posted on August 2, 2021 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: Council agreed to pay its rubbish contractor an extra £20.7m while it reduced the services they are expected to deliver, leaving the borough’s streets ever dirtier. EXCLUSIVE by SANJANA IDNANI Around 1,000 bins have been vanished from … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Council, Environment, Leila Ben-Hassel, Norbury, Refuse collection, Shafi Khan, Stuart Collins, Veolia | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 16 Comments

Councillor’s alarm call helps save lives in Thornton Heath fire

Posted on July 22, 2021 by insidecroydon

A Croydon councillor has spoken of how she called 999 in the early hours of this morning after she was woken up by “horrible screams” and “saw loads of black smoke coming out of neighbour’s house”. Leila Ben-Hassel is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Leila Ben-Hassel, London Fire Brigade, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Lacey still spinning as he hangs on to his job at Brick by Brick

Posted on November 26, 2020 by insidecroydon

It is not only the former council chief exec who has shown unconcealed contempt for the borough’s residents. Now, as our housing correspondent BARRATT HOLMES reports, the discredited head of the council-owned builders is pushing his luck, too Colm Lacey … Continue reading →

Posted in Brick by Brick, Callton Young, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Housing, Jane Avis, Leila Ben-Hassel, Section 114 notice, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

King’s peers crown him Croydon Labour’s new deputy leader

Posted on October 31, 2020 by insidecroydon

CROYDON IN CRISIS: The alarm signals over the electoral fate of the Town Hall, and perhaps even the Croydon Central marginal parliamentary seat, saw the borough’s Labour councillors given a stern lecture last night. By WALTER CRONXITE, political editor Stuart … Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Hamida Ali, Leila Ben-Hassel, Manju Shahul Hameed, Paul Scott, Sarah Jones MP, Stuart King, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ben-Hassel joins contest to become council deputy leader

Posted on October 29, 2020 by insidecroydon

‘We can’t do business as usual’ says rookie councillor looking to make an impression, writes KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter Leila Ben-Hassel, a Croydon councillor only since March 2019, last night announced herself as a fourth contender to become … Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Hamida Ali, Leila Ben-Hassel, Manju Shahul Hameed, Stuart King | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Newman hand-picks ‘Secret Seven’ to check on finance panel

Posted on June 11, 2020 by insidecroydon

EXCLUSIVE: The beleaguered council leader has moved to avoid  being held responsible for the borough’s massive £1.5bn debt and huge over-spend, reports KEN LEE A group of councillors, secretly hand-picked by Tony Newman, will meet tonight to discuss the council’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Caragh Skipper, Clive Fraser, Croydon Council, David Wood, Leila Ben-Hassel, Patsy Cummings, Simon Hall, Stephen Mann | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Brick by Brick CEO says company has sold 6 houses. Or is it 5?

Posted on March 27, 2020 by insidecroydon

Our overdevelopment correspondent, BARRATT HOLMES, reports on the latest admission of incompetence from Croydon Council’s loss-making house-builders Five. Or it might be six. Colm Lacey, the former council employee who has been promoted way beyond his skills and abilities to … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Andrew Pelling, Brick by Brick, Business, Colm Lacey, Croydon Council, Housing, Jo Negrini, Leila Ben-Hassel, Vidhi Mohan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Creatura’s Town Hall promotion could signal early end of May

Posted on May 14, 2019 by insidecroydon

The next full meeting of our council is Monday’s anachronistic annual ‘mayor-making’ ceremony in the Town Hall chamber. Ahead of it, the council’s two political groups have been tinkering with their line-ups. Our political editor, WALTER CRONXITE, reports that one … Continue reading →

Posted in Alisa Flemming, Chris Clark, Crime, Croydon Council, Helen Redfern, Knife crime, Leila Ben-Hassel, Mario Creatura, Oni Oviri, Purley, Stephen Mann, Steve O'Connell, Tim Pollard, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Tory vote slumps to 15% as Ben-Hassel wins in Norbury

Posted on March 15, 2019 by insidecroydon

KEN LEE reports from a draughty church hall in south London where … nothing much was learned Leila Ben-Hassel is the new councillor for Norbury and Pollards Hill, following yesterday’s ward by-election, where the Tory vote collapsed amid the current … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Croydon North, Jo Negrini, Leila Ben-Hassel, Norbury | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Barwell blamed for Brexit vote chaos on eve of by-election

Posted on March 14, 2019 by insidecroydon

The chair of Croydon Tories has accused Theresa May of having ‘betrayed’ her party and the country. Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on how the Conservative Party’s deep divisions at Westminster could be demonstrated in today’s Norbury and Pollards Hill council … Continue reading →

Posted in Gavin Barwell, Leila Ben-Hassel, Maggie Mansell, Norbury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Seven in the running for Norbury and Pollards Hill by-election

Posted on February 19, 2019 by insidecroydon

KEN LEE, our Town Hall reporter, goes through the runners and riders for next month’s council by-election There are to be seven candidates in the Norbury and Pollards Hill ward by-election being staged on March 14, after UKIP and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Leila Ben-Hassel, Norbury | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ben-Hassel is overwhelming winner for Labour in Norbury

Posted on February 15, 2019 by insidecroydon

WALTER CRONXITE, our political editor, on how a ward selection meeting last night capped off an altogether bad day for the council leadership Leila Ben-Hassel was last night selected as Labour’s candidate to stand in the Norbury and Pollards Hill … Continue reading →

Posted in Leila Ben-Hassel, Maggie Mansell, Norbury, Shafi Khan, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment