Croydon is one of the few boroughs in London where voters have two important choices to make on May 7. Residents in London’s most populous borough will elect 70 new local councillors to form the council, as well as an Executive Mayor to lead it.
Since 2022, Croydon Council has been led by a slight Conservative majority, with Mayor Jason Perry at the helm. They took over from the previous Labour administration in the last local election, which was marred by controversy over its handling of Croydon's finances.
However, experts believe the upcoming election will remain a two-party race, between the Conservatives and the Labour Party. Professor Tony Travers of the London School of Economics previously gave his predictions to the BBC. He said: "It could well be that the Conservative mayor, by bringing together the centre-right vote, holds on, but the council looks as if it will split with four or five parties winning seats. So it will be very 'no overall control' indeed."
All of the major parties are standing across Croydon's 28 wards, with a total of 210 candidates standing across all parties. Smaller parties are also represented, including the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition, the Equality Party, the Workers Party of Britain, and Your Party. The Taking the Initiative micro-party will also field 14 candidates in Croydon, having previously stood in the 2022 elections. Only two independents are standing across the borough: Graham Mitchell in Bensham Manor and Michael Castle in New Addington North.
A total of eight candidates are standing in Croydon's Executive Mayor election on May 7, including the incumbent Jason Perry. Here is a full breakdown of the manifesto promises being made by the major parties running candidates in Croydon:
Conservatives
Finances: Finalise and secure a deal on Croydon’s historic debt.
Streets (Safety & Cleanliness): Enforce zero tolerance on fly-tipping, antisocial behaviour, and crime. Continue investing in enforcement and neighbourhood services. Extend recycling centre hours, reintroduce free "rolling rubbish" collections, maintain graffiti removal teams, continue grass cutting and improve wildflower meadows, and continue town centre "Blitz Cleans."
Local Economy: Push Westfield developers to speed up regeneration of Whitgift and Centrale. Support new shops and leisure spaces, independent businesses, improve shopfronts, increase footfall in district centres, tackle empty shops, and offer shopfront improvement grants and targeted business rate relief.
Highways: Oppose new LTNs, consult on removing 20mph limits where residents do not support them, introduce "pothole hunters" to identify and fix potholes, and allow black cabs access to health school streets.
Environment: Open each year 4 playgrounds and 4 outdoor gyms. Improve parks with paths, lighting, and facilities. Open cafés in Waddon Ponds, Addiscombe Recreation Ground, and Queen’s Gardens.
Planning: Deliver a new local plan for "appropriate development," complete consultation on new conservation areas, oppose building on the green belt, and encourage housing for all life stages.
Housing: Continue housing regeneration at sites like Regina Road, improve housing standards, introduce targeted landlord licensing, and prioritise housing for veterans.
Improving Services: Move more support services into libraries, improve adult and children’s services, use AI to reduce staff paperwork, and support Purley Pool project and Coulsdon Medical Centre.
Safety: Support live facial recognition in the town centre and more CCTV, provide more activities for young people, support park guard officers, and use GPS tagging for repeat shoplifters.
Labour
Finance: Secure external investment, cap council tax increases at 5%, address council debt with commissioners, and support the cost of living through a co-operative food store.
Town Centre: Consider planning changes to speed up development, including Local Development Orders to fast track certain types of development and reducing Section 106 requirements to speed up building process. Seek external funding for projects (e.g. Westfield), enforce action on stalled building sites, introduce high street auctions for vacant shops and Compulsory Purchase Orders where needed, bring investors consortium together for development, create "Croydon Way" accessible walking route linking historic sites, improve signage, paving, and public art, offer business rate relief for start-ups, and make it easier to open pop-up shops.
Employment: Focus training on social workers, train drivers, chefs, creative and digital industries. Create "Croydon Baccalaureate" with 45-day placements, hold more job fairs for under-30s, and introduce a "ready for work" certificate.
Transport: Campaign to restore pre-COVID rail services, address the Croydon rail bottleneck around East Croydon and Selhurst Triangle, lobby for free bus travel for under-22s and extended train and tram links to Central London, and open East Croydon "Bridge to Nowhere" in the first year of taking office.
Culture: Introduce a Culture Pass giving cheap access to local art spaces, launch "Croydon Live" to promote events, and push the Fairfield Halls operator to improve output.
Crime and Homelessness: Focus on root causes of crime, use a "Housing First" approach, expand support services (drug, alcohol, and mental health), expand youth clubs, reduce school exclusions, require Violence Against Women and Girls training, design safer public spaces (lighting, visibility, road design), improve noise pollution control by providing night officers, offer doorbell cameras to victims of domestic abuse, improve the Family Justice Centre, and remove tenancies from domestic abuse perpetrators.
Police and Enforcement: Campaign to keep more police in Croydon, use Respect Orders for public drinking, drug use, and shoplifting, support live facial recognition (with safeguards for privacy and equality), increase fines for fly-tipping, seize or crush vehicles of repeat offenders, use mobile CCTV at hotspots, and clear fly-tipping quickly (within a 24-hour priority).
Environment: Introduce free bulky waste "skip days," bring 100 new bins to Norbury, include free bulky waste collection in landlord licensing, launch the "Alligator Scheme" (community funds for gates to prevent fly-tipping), reintroduce free dog waste bags in parks, trial frequent and timed waste collections on problem high streets, continue and expand blitz cleans and litter picks, improve green spaces (especially in the north), support the climate action plan and carbon offset fund, promote community energy, and create the "Croydon Bloom" gardening competition.
Leisure: Create a cross-country half marathon, support festivals (Burger festival, Aviation festival, Croydon Punk festival), support Purley Pool and a new BMX track in New Addington.
Liberal Democrats
Finance: Address Croydon Council’s financial crisis, tackle the £136m budget deficit, reduce reliance on consultants and temporary staff, and deliver a plan to restore financial sustainability.
Housing: Require affordable housing on developments of five homes or more, close loopholes allowing small developments to avoid contributions, incentivise sustainable development and community-supported housing, and focus on homes affordable to local families rather than luxury flats.
Regeneration: Deliver a regeneration plan not dependent on Westfield, bring independent retail, cultural venues, leisure opportunities, and new homes into the town centre, create a mixed-use centre for living, working, and visiting, and support district centres with better public spaces, small business support, and infrastructure investment.
Communities: Devolve planning decisions to neighbourhood forums and town and parish councils, give local communities control over developer contributions, allow communities to decide appropriate local development and keep and spend developer funding locally, and enable neighbourhood-led regeneration and high street renewal.
Transport: Harness rail, tram, and bus connections to attract people into the borough.
Environment: Support sustainable growth with infrastructure, green spaces, and transport. Protect and improve parks and public spaces, create safer streets with community-led policing, and promote climate-friendly policies for a greener, healthier borough.
Reform UK
Finances: Address Croydon’s financial crisis and £136m deficit, reduce council debt, cut wasteful spending, review council contracts and spending (e.g. agency staff, consultants), avoid investing council money in property development, prioritise basic services before new spending, cap senior staff pay (no one earning more than the Prime Minister), publish details of staff earning over £100,000, and redirect savings to reduce debt and interest payments.
Crime & Antisocial Behaviour: Take a zero-tolerance approach to antisocial behaviour, use council powers (e.g. PSPOs, injunctions, Criminal Behaviour Orders), improve crime prevention through better street lighting, cutting overgrowth, and improving sight lines, support police with enforcement of the law, back the use of stop and search, target crime "hotspots," maintain outreach for at-risk individuals, increase police visibility and accountability, and facilitate engagement between police and the public.
Planning: Support "sensible" development that works for residents, resist car-free developments where parking is needed, prioritise community space and local services, require developers to meet residents’ needs, introduce a town centre regeneration scheme, encourage redevelopment to improve the town centre, and protect parks, ponds, and natural spaces.
Local Services: Push back against further cuts to key services, maintain services for elderly and vulnerable residents, oppose closure of community facilities (e.g. libraries), focus on delivering core services effectively, support local NHS services by examining council support and holding NHS leadership accountable, and maintain services while addressing financial issues.
Environment: Maintain and protect green spaces, encourage biodiversity, tackle fly-tipping by introducing heavier penalties, clearing waste quickly, and installing CCTV in hotspots (with private sector support).
Local Economy: Support economic growth by reducing restrictions on business, welcome foreign investment, oppose taxes that discourage enterprise, work with businesses and community groups, and support growth on Croydon high streets.
Transport & Roads: Review and remove unnecessary traffic restrictions, relax parking restrictions, remove 20mph limits and return to a 30mph default, review one-way systems, bus lanes, and cycle lanes, fix potholes and improve road safety, introduce a lane rental scheme for roadworks to reduce disruption, consult on the impact of ULEZ and seek changes to anti-driver policies.
Communities: Preserve the character of local areas, resist inappropriate development, restore civic pride across the borough, focus on community, enterprise, and efficient services, commit to ongoing policy development with local input, and emphasise transparency and accountability in council decision-making.
Green Party
Council & Governance: Publish the Mayor’s diary for transparency, reduce special responsibility allowances for senior councillors, link councillor pay to the average local salary, use savings for participatory decision-making (e.g. citizens’ assemblies), reduce spending on senior officers and consultants, redirect funds to frontline staff, increase the number of public council meetings, allow more time for public questions, reinstate the Croydon Youth Council, work with other councils to lobby the Government on debt restrictions, protect public assets from being sold, and reopen in-person and telephone council services.
Housing: Expand landlord licensing across all private rentals, enforce safety and quality standards, issue fines and Rent Repayment Orders to bad landlords, support renters’ unions and Right to Manage companies, maximise the building of council homes, secure national funding to buy properties and retrofit homes, bring all council homes up to the Decent Homes Standard, create a public dashboard to track repairs, require at least 50% affordable housing in new developments, employ more empty homes officers, bring vacant homes back into use, and support community-led housing (co-ops, land trusts).
Homelessness: Adopt a "Housing First" approach, end rough sleeping, phase out long-term temporary accommodation, and bring supported and sheltered housing in-house.
Local Economy: Publish a public contract register, break up large contracts so local businesses can bid, bring agency roles in-house, and reduce the use of external consultants.
Town Centre: Prioritise local businesses over large chains, protect community assets (pubs, theatres) from conversion, and invest in local markets like Surrey Street.
Jobs & Skills: Require local jobs and training via developer agreements, link businesses with education providers, and support community enterprises managing local assets.
Culture: Create a new cultural quarter in the town centre, build an accessible mid-sized performance space, increase funding for murals and public art, create a safe and inclusive night-life, protect pubs as community spaces, and encourage late-opening cafés and social spaces.
Green Spaces & Nature: Strengthen the Biodiversity Strategy, protect trees with Tree Preservation Orders, improve local rivers, ban development on valued green spaces, introduce a carbon budget alongside the financial budget, use developer carbon offset funds for climate action, provide carbon literacy training for council staff, protect green spaces from development, prioritise refurbishment over demolition, require food waste recycling in private blocks, improve building safety, fund resident-led "Green Streets" projects, phase out harmful pesticides, and expand allotments and food-growing networks.
Cleanliness & Waste: Tackle fly-tipping through awareness campaigns and holding landowners accountable, increase the number of bins, and restore free bulky waste collection days.
Road Safety & Health: Introduce a Workplace Parking Levy (for commuters), use funds for school crossing staff, invest in long-term road resurfacing, and pursue "Vision Zero" (eliminate road deaths).
Workers: Support trade unions, improve workers’ rights, and create forums for staff to communicate with the Mayor.
System Reform: Replace the mayoral system with a committee model, divest the pension fund from weapons, stop using bailiffs for council tax collection, and use early intervention for debt support.
Services: Challenge the Government for fairer funding, and advocate for a wealth tax instead of raising council tax.
Education & SEND: Create a new SEND Information and Advice Service, expand local education provision, and ensure EHCPs are properly delivered.
Young People: Increase investment in youth services, design services with young people, improve support for carers, and keep children in care within the borough.
Community & Inclusion: Review cremation and burial services to reflect diverse needs, and support voluntary and community organisations by helping them access funding and reducing bureaucracy.
Taking the Initiative Party (TTIP)
Council & Governance: Lower council tax by cutting wasteful spending without reducing vital services, reform major council contracts to reduce waste and improve value, publish accessible council budgets, introduce open accounting with independent financial oversight, and reduce parking restrictions, fines, and costs.
Local Economy: Support small businesses and start-ups through grants, fair rents, and low-interest community loans. Revive high streets through a "Buy Croydon" campaign, reduce parking costs and restrictions to support businesses, and require large corporations and developments to provide local jobs, skills, and opportunities.
Youth: Create Youth Development Centres for mentoring, skills training, and creative programmes. Establish a Youth Advisory Council, and provide mental health support in schools and community hubs.
Housing: Build new affordable homes using local firms to create jobs, launch a borough-wide Housing Repair Programme, fix unsafe and neglected council homes, partner with ethical builders to deliver affordable housing, protect existing tenants from displacement, and upgrade homes with insulation and solar panels.
Safety & Communities: Strengthen community policing, install more CCTV in high-crime areas, introduce survivor-led initiatives to tackle violence against women and girls, fund early intervention and mentoring to prevent knife crime and antisocial behaviour, improve SEND support by increasing funding, supporting inclusive school strategies, and supporting parents of excluded children.
Environment: Overhaul waste collection to reduce fly-tipping and missed collections, remove unnecessary roadblocks and LTNs while balancing safety, invest in reliable public transport, protect green spaces, and install solar lighting and renewable energy in public buildings.
Health & Community Engagement: Work with the NHS to improve access for marginalised groups, ensure culturally informed healthcare services, launch public health campaigns on nutrition, mental health, and early detection, and increase resident involvement through digital consultations, focus groups, and town halls.
Windrush Support: Establish a Windrush Support Service with local partners, provide free help with applications and document recovery, campaign for higher compensation and faster processing, recognise impacts on "barrel children," and provide support for mental health, delayed benefits, and citizenship documentation.
Community Funding: Require large businesses and developers to contribute at least 1% of local profits to a Croydon Community Fund, distribute funds through a transparent, community-led panel, and fund youth programmes, small businesses, grassroots organisations, and public space improvements.
A full list of Croydon local election ward candidates can be found in a separate article.
