Andrew Pelling has been a huge figure in Croydon politics over five decades, in recent years as a committed Labour Party activist and councillor, where he, along with Joy Prince and Robert Canning, won Waddon Ward from the Conservative Party in 2014. He is popular locally, and an asset to both Croydon South CLP and the borough.

In being selected, first by the candidate selection panel, and then democratically by Waddon Labour Party members, to fight Labour's corner to retain Waddon next May, he was to be the sole continuity candidate in this vital swing ward.

We, the undersigned, feel that Labour Party members and voters, along with party democracy, have been undermined by the decision to rescind Andrew's candidacy, on the basis of being a whistleblower to the local press. We feel that asking him to re-interview looks like an attempt to legitimise an unfair decision that's already been made, so we ask the LCF (local campaign forum) to withdraw their request to re-interview, or at worst that the new panel re-instate and reaffirm Andrew's candidacy.

We had hoped that this sort of behaviour was a thing of the past, and that Croydon Labour would be forging a new way ahead for the borough's residents, uniting to win in 2022. It would be mortifying if unfair decisions, made with a lack of transparency, affected the candidacy of a good man, and reduce the chances of Labour winning in May.