Anthony Boutall is the Conservative candidate for Streatham & Croydon North for the next General Election
On Friday 26 January, at Norbury Baptist Church, I was excited and grateful to be selected as the Parliamentary Candidate for the new seat of Streatham & Croydon North. It is a completely new parliamentary seat that straddles two boroughs – Croydon to the south, and Lambeth to the north. The constituency is almost equally split when it comes to population, with pretty much 50 per cent of constituents living in Streatham on the Lambeth side, and 50 per cent living on the Croydon side, in Upper Norwood, Norbury, Pollards Hill, and Thornton Heath.
Despite being next door, political representation in both boroughs could not be further apart. In Lambeth, Labour claims a thumping 58 of the 63 seats. Croydon on the other hand is a Labour-Conservative marginal, where the Conservatives were able to defy the national picture in 2022, claiming several seats from Labour and winning the newly created mayoralty. Given this, half the people that I am speaking to, live in a Council under overwhelming Labour control. The other half live with a Conservative Council under the mayoralty of Jason Perry, who had to fight for every vote in the same way that he fights for every part of Croydon, despite a gargantuan financial black hole left by the outgoing Labour administration. The difference in lived experiences on either side of the constituency is stark.
In Croydon, the Thornton Heath recreational ground recently received an urgent request to clean paths. The response was so quick and effective that someone who stood as an independent candidate in the 2022 local elections rushed to social media to thank the Conservative executive. In Norbury, after years of neglect under Labour, a massive cleaning operation began under this Conservative executive, blitzing key areas and tidying up the area with great effect. In the weeks following the cleaning blitz, fly-tipping – which had been a major issue in Norbury under Labour – was down a massive 84 per cent. Local Conservatives have protected the character of Pollards Hill through planning changes; cancelled the chaotic Crystal Palace low traffic neighbourhood restrictions; reinstated the graffiti removal service; reinvigorated Whitehorse Road recreational ground; and they are expanding South Norwood Library – all with no money.
Even though Croydon Conservatives know that they get a lot more votes in the south of the borough than the north, Jason Perry’s executive leads a Council that genuinely treats all areas equally – not punching down on one group of people to benefit another. There is plenty of work still to be done to improve the borough after years of decline under Labour, and there is suffocatingly little room for manoeuvre given Labour’s infamous financial mess, but the executive is listening and delivering.
Next door in Lambeth, I can’t find anyone who feels that Lambeth Council is on their side. The quality of social housing is atrocious and local services face the effects of stagnation and failure, week in, week out. The Labour candidate for the seat at the next election, Steve Reed MP, led Lambeth Council when it was ranked the worst borough in Greater London in 2006. Local people don’t believe it has improved since then.
So secure is Labour’s dominance of the area, though, that they really do feel they can ignore local people. The recent Streatham Wells low traffic neighbourhood, on top of other local LTNs, has brought this part of London to a standstill. Buses have actually been cancelled due to clogged roads, removing public transport both for those who want to do the right thing by using it or who have no other choice because they can’t afford Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ charges. Pollution hasn’t stopped – it’s been moved from some areas to concentrate in others, often causing most disruption to families who are already struggling. Concentrated pollution levels outside some primary schools have reached dangerous levels, emergency service workers can’t do their jobs, local businesses are suffering, and taxis won’t take young women safely to their front doors.
But still, safely buttressed by their mammoth electoral majorities, local Labour politicians show no regard for the people they are there to represent, and the local Lib Dem leader goes along with them too, fully supporting the policy. Complaints and reality checks from local residents are met with preachy comments about the fact that people should be riding bikes and catching buses. Not only are some buses cancelled due to Labour’s LTN policy, this isn’t a good enough answer anyway. As one disabled lady in a wheelchair said to me, she simply doesn’t have the option to cycle to work.
So, what is the answer? Of course, as a Conservative, I believe that Jason Perry’s Croydon Council listens more than Lambeth Council partly because of the parties in power. However, if we are honest, it is also because Conservatives must earn their position to serve in Croydon, with tightly-fought elections expected, whereas Labour expect to rule in Lambeth without any serious contest, getting away with ignoring local people and their legitimate concerns.
That is what we as a team hope to change. Through added energy and dynamism, our local team – at constituency, borough, and London Assembly level – must earn the trust of enough local people to really put pressure on Labour and force them to listen. We need to keep our brilliant Mayor in place in Croydon by gaining more Conservative support in a part of Croydon borough that doesn’t tend to favour us in the polling booths. We also need to give Labour a wake up call in Lambeth so that they sit up and act on behalf of the people they should be representing.
Given both these aims, there is a massive motivation to fight this uphill battle. We want to force Labour to listen in Streatham and support Mayor Perry’s reinvigoration of Croydon. Things can be better.