‘I am not walking away’ says Dumped Labour Councillor Jewitt

Blue Labour: Longstanding Labour Councillors are Being Deselected for Tories in Croydon

A longstanding Labour Councillor, who has served the local Croydon Labour party for nearly two decades, has told a local newspaper that she won’t be walking away. Karen Jewitt, who was seen as Labour’s voice against domestic violence in the borough, was axed from her position in favour of Hamida Ali, from Purley. "I think Hamida was looking for a winnable seat and I was the casualty,” said Jewitt.

Labour leader and former ward colleague Tony Newman heaped praise on Ms. Jewitt but also warned that ‘and there will undoubtedly be one or more very hard decisions made.’ This was seen by local Labour activists as a warning that they could be replaced in favour of new blood, possibly more former Tories.

One decision that wasn’t difficult for Tony Newman was supporting former Tory Andrew Pelling to lead Labour’s Croydon campaign in the marginal ward of Waddon. It is widely expected that if Mr Pelling was to win the seat he would hold the balance of power in the Labour group and be in a good position to become a Cabinet member or even unseat Newman, gaining complete control of the Labour group.