The electorate being taken for granted as the ‘battlefield’ moves south – Inside Croydon

As postal voters start receiving their ballot papers ahead of the July 4 general election, others in parts of Croydon are starting to feel their votes are being taken for granted by the Tories and Labour, as our editor explains political, WALTER CRONXITE.

Without wishing to be too Orwellian, all voters are equal, but some voters are more equal than others.

It is often said that you only see a politician during elections. But in Croydon in 2024, even that appears to be another electoral untruth for many Croydon voters asking: “Where are those leaflets?” “Where are these party activists?” “Where are the candidates?“

Where’s Steve?: Steve Reed has been seen all over the country. Just not so much in Croydon North. The bookmakers have Reed at 1-500 (win £1 on a £500 stake) to win Streatham and Croydon North

Political parties may say they want your vote, but residents feel that in most parts of Croydon, not much effort is being made to victory that vote. It’s midway through the 2024 general election campaign and Croydon’s voters in general are being taken for granted.

Croydon now has four parliamentary constituencies – Croydon East, Croydon South, Croydon West and a bit of Streatham and Croydon North. In two of these areas – West and North – despite all the main parties claiming to be fighting for every vote, there has been little or no campaign activity.

“I’ve got my poll book but I’ve been cowering from either candidate,” one postal voter in Croydon West told us.

“I didn’t get leaflets through my door and no one called to ask how I was going to vote,” said another. “I can only assume that none of the candidates in Croydon West want their vote.”

A more cynical voter in the north of the borough summed it up: “Streatham and Croydon North is a very safe Labor seat, as was the old Croydon North seat. Steve Reed and Labor despise the voters – I think they will win here on the 4th of July. Meanwhile, the Tories aren’t wasting their time or money campaigning in a seat they know they’ll never win.”

Making the Congo Chris conga: five of the six canvassers in this Tory selfie are Tory councillors

Anyone who is politically savvy knows that in every election, all political parties focus on the so-called “battlefield” or marginal seats, focusing especially on the swing voters in these constituencies that will determine the outcome of the election.

For Labor this election, this is Croydon South. For the Tories, this is Croydon South. For the LibDems, these are the Sutton seats. And the Greens have said in their party political shows that they are really only trying to win in four seats, none of them in Croydon.

One Waddon resident, who was moved from Croydon South to Croydon West following the boundary changes, told us: “So far the only election literature we have received is a Tory leaflet which outlined their future parliamentary candidate.

“His commitments were to organize regular operations, restore pride in the community and protect green spaces. It is as if he is running for the elections in a parish council.

“There has been absolutely nothing on key national issues such as the cost of living crisis created by Liz Truss or reducing NHS waiting lists, tackling the housing shortage or stopping illegal immigration.

“I can only assume it was drafted before the general election was called. Then again, maybe the Tories are all they have to offer Croydon West voters after 14 years of Tory failure. Anyway, the prospect was so poor it might as well not have bothered.” Although this is probably true in 95% of election leaflet cases…

The experience of taking voters for granted in constituencies such as Croydon West or Streatham and Croydon North is replicated in many “safe” Labor seats up and down the country.

A labor source said Inside Croydon that the party expects to win every seat currently held by the Tories by a majority of 3,000 or less. It is also expected to retain all the seats it currently holds with almost zero work.

Our source declined to comment on whether this included Islington North, where former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn is running for re-election as an independent and is likely to win the bookies. Or in Rochdale, where the incumbent George Galloway is seeking re-election as a Labor candidate and where the result looks too close to being nominated.

Despite a 20% lead in the opinion polls, the local Labor Party is taking nothing for granted in Croydon East, given the seat’s previous history as a fringe constituency and the risk of the “Croydon effect” of lingering anti-Semitism. -Labour behind the council. bankruptcy in 2020 under Tony Newman.

Labour’s candidate Natasha Irons seems confident enough to be the new constituency’s first MP: she has already resigned as a councilor in Merton.

“Vote with your heart”: Labor is so far ahead that there is no need to vote tactically in Croydon East

Irons has made efforts to engage with voters and raise his profile, which in Croydon is quite underground.

Even so, the number of canvassing sessions and the number of party activists joining him on the doorstep is very low compared to the 2017 general elections.

In that election, Sarah Jones won what was Croydon Central for Labor with the help of hundreds of Corbyn-supporting Momentum members and retained it in 2019 with an increased majority. In 2024, local sources suggest that party membership is fair half from what it was five years ago.

Most of Labour’s canvassers this time around in Croydon East are Labor councilors or aspiring councillors, rather than grassroots members.

Croydon’s councilors clearly don’t have enough work at the council these days. Since the beginning of March, they have been campaigning in London.

The same goes for the Conservative Party canvassers – lots of councilors doing their ‘mythic’ to try and help ‘Congo’ Chris Philp in Croydon South. Based on the number of Tories who took part in Croydon East, it is reasonable to conclude that they have already given up on winning this seat. The Conservative candidate in Croydon East is Jason Cummings, the council’s finance cabinet member who increased council tax by 21% from 2023.

Unlike Irons, Cummings did not resign as councilman. Read into that what you will.

The bookies are currently offering 10-1 (bet £1 to win £10) for Cummings to win in Croydon East, although our advice to our loyal reader is not to throw your money away betting on them to win.

According to one of the many tactical voting websites that have sprung up, in Croydon East you can ‘vote with your heart’: Labor is so certain to win that there’s no need to play the first-past-the-post vote. system.

In Croydon South, ‘Congo’ Chris is fighting for political survival. Philp was comfortably re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 12,000, but this time both Labor and the Tories are throwing the political kitchen sink in this constituency.

Since the election was called, a large number of Labor activists descended on Croydon South from across London to canvass voters and deliver election literature. Opinion polls and bookies are predicting a historic victory for Labour.

So this once true blue suburb is a ‘battleground’ seat for the 2024 election. Expect a knock on the door and leaflets through the letterbox if you live in South Croydon, Purley, Kenley or Coulsdon… but expect zero contact if you live in the west or north of the neighborhood.

As a very wise man once said, all voters are equal, but some voters are more equal than others.

Read more: The Croydon West election just got interesting with the Labor split
Read more: Bringing the parties to the reserve: the manifestos are devoid of promise
Read more: Scotland Yard’s cyber crime unit investigating Croydon Labour
Read more: Before your next vote, you must read this from The New Yorker

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• ROTTEN BOROUGH AWARDS: In January 2024, Croydon was named among the country’s most rotten boroughs for the seventh consecutive year in the annual summary of civic advertising in Private magazine