Croydon (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Labour’s selection of Rowenna Davis as Croydon mayoral candidate faces internal backlash, highlighting party tensions and concerns over leadership decisions.
The remaining members of the Labour party in Croydon, including those referred to as belonging to the “loyal mainstream,” are becoming more and more dissatisfied with the way Keir Starmer and his all-powerful goon, Morgan McSweeney, are running the party.
At the Croydon East Constituency Labour Party’s all-members’ meeting last night, a motion was made to demand an explanation for when Croydon Labour will be taken out of “special measures” and to express strong disapproval of London Region officials for their poorly planned and delayed mayoral selection earlier this month.
There was not a single vote against the measure.
Even though Tony Newman and Simon Hall’s suspensions for their roles in the 2020 council financial collapse have ended, Croydon Labour is still under special measures with the party nationwide, not permitted to carry out many regular tasks, and particularly not trusted to supervise the choice of their own candidates.
Newman might have been permitted to attend the Croydon East CLP’s all-member meeting last night for the first time since February 2021, depending on which Woodside postcode he lives in.
As the party attempts to recoup from the harm Newman and his Numpties brought to its reputation, it is uncertain if he will have been welcomed.
In 2026, holding a respectable and dignified municipal election campaign will be the first step.
“There was a lot of pressure on London Region to get the mayoral selection process to the starting line for obvious reasons,” one member confided to Inside Croydon on strict condition of anonymity in case McSweeney sends the boys in, Beria-style.
There was a long delay. Then a big rush. Some members – and we are talking about members in the party’s loyal mainstream – felt that they could have organised it better themselves.”
After London Labour thought that it was somehow a good idea to include Manju Shahul-Hameed, a committed member of Newman’s council cabinet, on their selection shortlist, Rowenna Davis ultimately emerged victorious in the two-horse race.
With 82% of the vote, Davis won; nevertheless, London Labour did not bother to mention this in its announcement to its own members.
Labour, like the other main political parties, must find at least 70 interested candidates to run for office in the next municipal elections.
There are signs that things won’t go as planned.
“JC,” or Janet Cooke, the vice-chair of the CLP, stated in the minutes of the most recent Croydon East CLP meeting that a meeting of [Croydon] CLP secretaries had been convened on March 24 to consider methods to improve member involvement locally.
“Unfortunately several people were unable to attend.”
The motion criticising London Labour was the final substantive piece of business last night.
Headed, “Concern over lack of member involvement in Croydon Mayoral selection”, the motion said:
“Members of Croydon East CLP would like to express their concern at the lack of opportunity for us to meaningfully engage in the process of selecting a candidate for the Croydon Mayoral elections due to take place in May 2026.
Members from across the four Croydon CLPs were invited (on Monday 7 April) to attend a hustings event on Wednesday 9 April.
This took place online, but there was no opportunity for members to engage with the candidates, whether that be to show support for a particular policy idea, raise a question or comment in the chat function, or speak to either of the candidates directly.”
He added that the questions put to the candidates during the one-hour event were not submitted by our members, which meant they were not able to quiz the candidates on issues specific to Croydon.
This online event took place approximately 48 hours before voting commenced, with members receiving ballots just after 5pm on Friday 11 April (over five hours after they were told to expect them).
Voting closed on Monday 14 April at midday, which gave members not even three full days to cast their vote. The vote was held during the Easter break, when families are likely to have taken holidays and there was very limited time to apply for and use a postal ballot.
They understand the timetable for this selection and the process itself was governed by London Labour rather than having direct input from representatives of our borough.
While they understand that the reason for this is the local party remaining in ‘special measures’, this decision relates to events from almost five years ago.
The Metropolitan Police investigation into alleged data theft over the (London Region-supervised) parliamentary candidate selection for Croydon East in late 2023 is still ongoing, therefore it is important to note that London Labour has hardly a spotless record when it comes to events in Croydon.
The CLP motion continued that although they have no doubt that both the candidates who put themselves forward for selection are of high calibre, they believe it is a disservice to members to have a rushed selection process with no opportunity for members to meet the candidates and ask questions about issues that matter to them.
The 2026 Mayoral elections (as well as the council elections being held at the same time) will set the direction of our borough for the next four years, and given the precarious financial situation of Croydon Council, it is vital they are able to select an exceptional candidate who will win this election.
They call on London Labour to:
Give Croydon Labour CLPs a precise date for their release from special measures and outline the requirements that must be fulfilled for it to occur;
Allow representatives from each CLP to participate in the scheduling and candidate selection process if this release is not scheduled for the upcoming months;
Ask the Metropolitan Police to provide an update on their investigation into the selection process for the 2024 Croydon East MP candidate, and promise to share the results with Croydon East members as soon as the Labour Party receives a report on the investigation;
Take note of the members’ discontent with the Croydon mayoral selection process and pledge to give members a real opportunity to participate and a fair amount of time to choose a candidate in subsequent London Labour-run selection procedures.
What are the main criticisms against the labours’s party’s handling of the mayoral selection in Croydon?
There were few opportunities for members of Croydon’s Labour constituencies to interact with the candidates in a meaningful way. Members had no opportunity to speak with the candidates face-to-face, ask questions, or discuss local issues because the lone hustings event was conducted virtually.
Members were unable to participate since the Zoom chat feature was disabled and questions were pre-submitted by party officials rather than members.
Members had less than three full days to cast their ballots because the hustings were held barely 48 hours before the polls opened and ballots were distributed late on a Friday during the Easter break. Participation was thought to be limited by this timing.
London Labour officials controlled the selection schedule, excluding members from local parties, because Croydon Labour is still subject to “special measures” that were imposed nationwide following the council’s financial problems in 2020.