Clare George-Hilley made the comments after her party failed to retain a seat in Waddon.
Croydon councillors are hitting back after a former Conservative councillor said that ‘dumb’ people ‘shouldn’t be allowed to vote’.
Clare George-Hilley did not stand for election, having stood down, but was involved in campaigning in her ward of Waddon in which her party narrowly missed out on retaining a seat.
In a post on Facebook which has now been deleted, she said: “We built them a new leisure centre, spent millions improving parks and roads and they vote for the opposition.
“If people are so dumb that they don’t know the difference between a general or local election then they shouldn’t be able to vote.”
In a follow-up piece on political blog The Blue Gorilla, she added that she was upset that former Tory MP Andrew Pelling had been elected as a Labour councillor in the ward.
Mr Pelling today hit back saying: “Waddon Labour councillors will show residents respect and courtesy as we work to build a strong sense of community across the ward.”
Mrs George-Hilley later said she agreed that everyone should have a vote, and instead insisted that parties should work together to combat voter apathy.
She said: “It disheartens me that people don’t know who they’re voting for.”
The former contestant on BBC reality series Castaway found both support and condemnation on social media.
Labour MP for Croydon North, Steven Reed, called her comments ungracious and said Labour won because they had made a strong local case.
However, other twitter users agreed with her stance and called the process of local elections infuriating.
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