Taking the Initiative Party’s first step towards ending the corruption in Croydon
Taking the Initiative Party’s Mayor for Croydon candidate Farah London took 5,768 first choice votes away from the Labour party, mainly in the north of Croydon resulting in the Labour Party losing the mayoral election to the Conservative Party in 5th May local council elections, Croydon. The Labour Party lost the mayoral seat to the Conservative Party with a margin of 589 votes.
As a young, newly established party in Croydon partaking in our first ever full Local Election and after numerous consultations with the residents, it became apparent that, even though some of the behaviour of the Conservative Party has been questionable across the country, there is no doubt that the behaviour of the Labour Party in Croydon is both unethical and criminal. An example of this is the current fraud investigation being held by the Met police on Croydon council, for the £67.5 million spend on the “refurbishment” of Fairfield Halls, whilst residents have been suffering major neglect and businesses suffering major damage in the borough.
In order for the community to repair itself, we must address the residents’ needs as well as the lack of opportunities provided to them and support the businesses to increase local economy. We have sent a firm message to the Labour Party that corruption and unethical behaviour will no longer be accepted. We have also made our position clear, to the Conservative Party, that we expect to see real change in the north of Croydon, in relation to the appropriate distribution of funds, support for businesses, facilities for the youth, an improvement on council services being provided to residents such as bin collections, adequate housing standards, safer streets with zero tolerance to knife crime and more.
"We have been led to believe that as working class people, we do not have a say in what happens in our local community and we have suffered at the hands of people who have been dishonest, incompetent or both. However, we have now made a statement that we will exercise our vote to make change. The support we have built in just a year and a half has given us the power to sway the vote in favour of whoever is listening and making the lives of working class people in Croydon better. We intend to fight for Policies in Education, Health, Environment, Business and increase job opportunities. We want to make Croydon a better and happier place to live and work” says Farah London, Taking the Initiative Party’s mayoral candidate.
The most important lesson that this election has taught us, is that our vote counts and has the power to remove those from leadership positions who have failed us. As an example of this, alongside our votes as Taking the Initiative Party, independent candidate Andrew Pelling, who was removed from the Labour Party for having a conscience and speaking out against corruption, gained 6,807 first choice votes which also had a major impact on the shift of power. Each and every vote counts and collectively, the voters in the Croydon borough have the ability and power to change how the council is run. The total turnout for the election this year was 35%, if 65% of the remaining voters used their voice, we would have the ability to make a historic change in Croydon. Every vote counts.
Taking the Initiative Party’s plan moving forward, is to continue to build our support in the north of Croydon as it is largely working class and has been highly neglected by the borough’s leadership. We will continue to ensure that the working class throughout London have a voice that actually represents them. Although the Labour Party was formerly seen as the party for the working class, it has become apparent that they have been drastically failing us, with the cost of living going up and people from working class backgrounds becoming more anxious, as their income is not rising in line with living costs.
Taking the Initiative Party also intends to be fielding candidates in other areas throughout London in the upcoming parliamentary elections, as well as the next local elections where the working class is not being represented.
To view Farah London’s full manifesto for Croydon, visit www.ttip.org.uk. To view Taking the Initiative Party’s vision for Croydon and solutions to local issues visit https://www.theinitiativeparty.org.uk/our-vision-for-croydon
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