Croydon Labour leader Tony Newman announces of his first cabinet

Top Labour Team

CROYDON Labour leader Tony Newman has unveiled his top team following a sensation victory in the local elections. Popular Councillor Stuart Collins has been given the brief of Clean Green Croydon in a newly created post of deputy. Respected Councillor Louisa Woodley will oversee safety and justice, whilst a new cabinet role of transport and environment has been created and will be taken on by rising star Councillor Kathy Bee.

Meanwhile senior Councillor Toni Letts will handle the portfolio of finance, a challenging brief but one well within her ability and experience to deliver on. Councillor Letts, a vocal spokesperson on domestic violence has captivated the imagination of Croydon’s women with her emotional account of her own experience of domestic abuse two years ago.

But there are already signs of rumblings in the Labour group, with Ms. Letts’ appointment being raised as a potential ‘conflict of interest’ by one Labour blog.

UKIP Voters Hand Labour the Keys to Croydon

UKIP protest voters have helped the Labour Party take control of the London Borough of Croydon. Despite a flawed campaign with mixed messages, dodgy candidates and a record of increasing Council Tax by 27% in a single year, the Labour Group sleepwalked to victory due to a rise on UKIP votes, costing the Conservatives the critical wards of Waddon and Ashburton. 

Residents are now eagerly awaiting the formal appointment of the bitterly divided Labour group to see how it performs in office. The group has already called and emergency budget which will include costing an allocation of its supersize shopping list of election pledges. There are fears that delivering these promises on a shoestring budget can only be achieved by deep cuts to public services, a large Council Tax Rise or eating into the Council’s treasured reserve fund. History is a about to repeat itself

Labour on Course to Lose Croydon as Party Abandons Swing Ward

Colourful Character: Labour voters have failed to warm to Andrew Pelling

The Croydon Labour Party’s heroic bid to reclaim the swing ward of Waddon has spectacularly failed, with all resources being diverted to Ashburton. Private Polling from the Conservatives has shown a bounce in support for the group following its policy to freeze Council Tax and the launch of the new leisure centre.

Eye witnesses have told The Croydon Gazette that there are no tellers at the polling stations in Waddon, even in some of Labour’s best areas. The revelations fly in the face of Labour Leader Tony Newman’s recent claims that he has picked a ‘dream team’ for the area.

Rewind just two years ago during the Mayoral elections and Waddon was a polled as a decisive Labour win. All that changed when the group appointed controversial former Tory Andrew Pelling whose electromagnetic ability to attract negative publicity has derailed the Labour Party’s campaign.

A former Conservative colleague of Pelling told this newspaper, “Andrew will explode like a volcano if he doesn’t get in, he was clearly planning to take over the Labour Group, become a Labour MP and challenge Ed Miliband for party leader. Since he was caught secretly standing in Carshalton, Labour and the people of Waddon have been very suspicious of him and that has seriously damaged Labour’s campaign in Waddon.

The source continued, “If he fails in what should be an easy win for Labour, there will be question marks over whether he has lost his mojo and is actually repelling voters as a political liability. Croydon Labour need a winner, not a loser, and Andrew’s repeated political failures put him firmly in the loser category.”

Would-be Croydon Labour MP Threatens Colleague Over Ex-wife Claims

Chilling: Leaked emails reveal a libel dispute in the Croydon Labour group

He’s been billed by the Labour party as the candidate who can ‘put the fear of God into people’, and by the looks of these leaked emails, Waddon candidate Andrew Pelling is living up to his reputation.

So when lifelong Labour supporter Anthony Miller wrote a piece on an incident involving the former Tory’s ex-wife, he soon found himself locked in a libel dispute in a string of chilling emails leaked to The Croydon Gazette.   

The emails, which were sent by Steven Downes, editor of the Inside Croydon blog, of which Pelling is special correspondent, warn Mr Miller that he will now have to live with the consequences of his actions. Pelling, now a high profile Labour Parliamentary candidate is clearly copied into the correspondence but does not respond to the mail chain.

The emails expose the bizarre and powerful influence Mr Pelling has over Mr Downes, a former journalist turned blogger, who is not thought to possess any formal legal qualifications.

The revelations follow a string of disclosures in the Croydon local press that the Labour group is ‘in turmoil’ and tearing itself apart. 

Mr Miller refused to comment on the emails when approached by the Croydon Gazette. 

Conservatives Surge as Labour Become Complacent in Addiscombe

Keeping it local: artha Chatterjee, David Harmes and Lisa Terry

Three local Conservative candidates look set to unseat the complacent Labour incumbents in the crucial ward of Addiscombe. Conservative candidates Partha Chatterjee, David Harmes and Lisa Terry are set to defeat the current Labour representatives who have failed to meet the promised made in the 2010 election.

The aspirational area, which has benefitted from a rise in house prices and the re-development of East Croydon station is one where the shadow of Labour’s 27.3% Council Tax rise from 2003 is likely to resonate with hardworking voters on the doorstep.

With the Labour group’s resources and funding being diverted towards New Addington, which would traditionally be Labour safe turf, the ward is looking increasingly vulnerable to a Conservative surge, led by a pledge to freeze Council Tax and a £25 cash rebate to hard pressed families. 

Back in 2003, a politician who is now one of Labour’s own candidates criticised its “huge increase in Council Tax” which hit hardworking people.

ARREST WARRANT Issued for Croydon Labour Waddon Candidate

Croydon Labour’s disastrous campaign received another blow today after an ARREST WARRANT was issued by the courts after one of the group’s former Waddon candidates skipped sentencing for a holiday in Turkey. David Christison, who is on benefits, was secretly partying in a posh holiday hotel in the sun – when he should have been sentenced for filming men urinating.

The exclusive scoop was secured in local newspaper The Croydon Advertiser – a paper branded ‘The Sadvertiser’ by Christison’s replacement, the controversial Andrew Pelling.