Croydon North’s Labour candidate Steve Reed has been branded a ‘secret right-wing Blairite’ by a Green party candidate.
In a string of tweets Croydon’s self-professed ‘green knight’ Shasha Khan accused Mr Reed of being part of a right-wing faction within the party and that he had become ‘complacent’ during the general election campaign.
Mr Khan said Mr Reed was well aware that the North Croydon constituency was not keen on New Labour since the party’s decision to enter the Iraq war in 2003.
He said: “The truth is that Steve Reed is very much on the Blairite fraction of Labour, he is very much New Labour.
“Steve Reed is probably disappointed that he’s not closer to the Conservatives.”
Despite the Labour party’s strong hold in the constituency since 1997, Mr Khan accused the Labour candidate of being complacent while other candidates battled it out for the last crucial votes.
Mr Reed, who has served as MP for the last two-and-a-half years brushed off the comments.
He told SW Londoner said: “I’m sorry the Green candidate feels the need to engage in old-fashioned smear tactics, it’s all a bit desperate and says much more about the state of his campaign than it does about anyone else.
“It’s been an honour to serve as MP for Croydon North and I’ll keep working hard every day to help make life better for people here if I’m re-elected – but what we really need is a Labour government to put fairness back at the heart of what this country’s about.”
Conservative candidate Vidhi Mohan claimed that the likelihood of Croydon North being won by another party would be a ‘national record’, but said it wasn’t impossible.
He said: “Steve Reed has talked a lot but he hasn’t really done anything for the area in the last two years he has been the MP.
“He’ll blame the council and everyone else, but I can’t see one thing that Steve Reed has achieved over the last two years – I believe he takes voters for granted.”
Liberal Democrat candidate Joanna Corbin added: “Conditions in North Croydon remain the same whether Labour or the Conservatives are elected.
“We all pay the same rates and taxes but it’s a different result in North Croydon – why is no one questioning or challenging that?”
Picture courtesy of Steve Reed, with thanks
