Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Labour has launched a last-minute appeal for candidates to stand in Croydon’s upcoming council elections, amid concerns over local representation.
There are no more candidates ready to represent Croydon Labour in the municipal elections scheduled for May.
An urgent appeal was sent out last night.
“We are reopening nominations for members to put themselves forward to be Labour candidates in the upcoming 2026 local government elections,”
read the email, signed by an unnamed “London Labour procedures secretary”.
In the five years since Keir Starmer and David Evans took over the party’s leadership, activists and members have left, and the last-ditch appeal shows both the rising discontent among those who are still there but are uncomfortable with the path Labour has been following.
The deselection of a few Croydon women council members by faceless, anonymous regional party officials won’t have done much to boost morale at the grassroots level either.
After being removed from local control, Croydon Labour is just halfway through its selection process, which is being overseen by representatives from the National Executive Committee and the London region office.
“Our initial round of applications and interviews has returned a strong pool of candidates and longlisted potential candidates,”
the Labour email continued, not entirely convincingly.
“To ensure that we can put forward a representative and diverse team of applicants to the ward members, and subsequently candidates to the electorate, we are inviting further applications.
We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and experience, and we especially encourage women members to consider applying at this stage. All we ask is that you are willing to work hard as part of a team, play an active role in campaigning, and be committed to making a difference to the lives of your neighbours.”
This came from the party leadership, which prohibited six current Labour council members—five of whom were women and four of whom were Black women—from running for reelection.
To date, Croydon Labour has named 42 candidates and revealed the results of 15 ward selections. In addition to Tory-held South Croydon and under-threat seats in Crystal Palace, Upper Norwood, and Fairfield wards, they primarily encompass what are known as “safe Labour” wards.
Along with the mayoral election for the entire borough, Town Hall elections for 70 council seats will be contested in 28 wards on May 7, 2026.
In the most recent local elections in 2022, Labour secured 34 council seats. However, 13 members of the existing Labour group at Town Hall will not be on the ballot next year due to retirements and deselections.
Labour has a strict policy of running for every seat in Croydon, even those where they know they have little chance of winning, just like the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats (when they can muster enough members).
Therefore, Croydon Labour (or its bosses at the all-powerful NEC) demand that at least 28 members agree to be “paper candidates” for these 13 additional wards.
These are merely nominal candidates for wards in the borough’s south where there is little chance of a serious campaign. Scam democracy is what it is: a little smoke and mirrors from the political parties (the Tories do much the same in the north of Croydon).
A ton of other documents, such as “Essential information,” “Councillor job description,” “Qualifications and disqualifications,” “How to apply,” and even a “Code of conduct,” were included in the appeal that was sent out last night.
Anyone who wants to apply for this hiding to nothing has till Monday at noon to read all the paperwork and complete out the applications.
To assist cover the gaps on its list of candidates, Labour is even willing to violate its own regulations.
Typically, a member must have been on Labour’s books for at least 12 months in order to have any chance of being considered for selection, even as a paper candidate.
A current Labour member said last week:
“There’s a real dearth of people coming forward to be candidates next year… Once you take out half a dozen sitting councillors whose faces don’t fit, they’ve been forced to plug some holes.
That’s why they asked Brigitte [Graham] to stay on in Woodside. That’s why they’ve dragged John Wentworth out of retirement.”
According to insiders, Clark received the fewest votes of the three selected candidates at a meeting that was not well attended. A re-vote was required since Clark and Laila Mohammed were deadlocked for the third spot. By a single vote, Clark was spared deselection by Fairfield Labour members.
Clark was not allowed to try out for selection in a different, less dangerous ward. Since 2022, Fairfield has had two Green Party council members.
The municipal elections in Croydon, which will include votes for 70 council members, are scheduled for Thursday, May 7, 2026.
How has the NEC and London region influenced Croydon selections?
The NEC and London region removed the control of the selection process from local party grassroots members and activists meaningfully engaged in the candidate selection.
The NEC has exercised its powers with this level of centralisation due to concerns regarding achieving its diversity target with respect to women and candidates from a minority ethnic background.
Local Labour members and councillors clearly resent and feel deeply dissatisified with the NEC and London region, appointing candidates over local preference.
While many longstanding and well-regarded councillors were deslected or pressured to resign as candidates, there have been allegations of “travesty” and heavy-handedness relating to the deselection of women candidates, especially Black ones.