Croydon elected its first ever mayor in May, as Conservative Jason Perry beat Labour councillor Val Shawcross to the seat at the head of the council.
Perry has been a Croydon councillor since 1994, whilst Shawcross previous served as deputy mayor of London under Sadiq Khan’s leadership.
A Croydon campaign group, called DEMOC, started petitioning in 2020 for a change in how the council should be run. A referendum was held, titled ‘How would you like the London borough of Croydon to be run?’ with the mayoral system beating the cabinet system with an 80% majority.
The Conservatives took control of the council for the first time since 2014, after the previous council went bankrupt.
The task now for the new council is how to lead the London borough in its new form, with one elected figure making decisions with help from his cabinet.
