Andrew Pelling

Andrew

Putting Croydon First

I have been in Croydon politics for a long time, and I have lived in Croydon even longer. My family have been in Croydon for over six generations, and I was first elected as a councillor in 1982. I was lucky enough to be returned at every election until 2006, when I stood down having won the Croydon Central seat in the 2005 general election. In 2000 I was elected to the first London Assembly, and served until 2008.

When I was elected as an MP I used to boast that I had an independent streak. Since becoming an independent MP that streak has been given full reign, and I have felt much freer to stick up for Croydon, and to venture opinions on issues of the day.

The Leader of London’s Green Party once called me ‘the acceptable face of Conservatism’, I suppose I am now just ‘an acceptable face’. When I was on the GLA, Mayor Livingstone said ‘although he is a wicked Conservative, I do suggest you ask your Local GLA Member, Andrew Pelling, because he does take up local issues’. My independence means I am now just a politician who ‘takes up local issues’, which is no bad thing.

The most recent challenge was the reorganisation of acute stroke care in London. The fight to back Mayday’s bid for a new Hyper-Acute Stroke Unit proved to be a quixotic endeavour, the Unit ultimately going to St, George’s in Tooting, but it was magnificent to see how passionate the community became about a local service. Nearly 2,800 people signed the petition I started in support of Mayday, and I was proud to present it to Parliament.