Croydon East (constituency)

Croydon East is a suburban constituency located in the Borough of Croydon on the outskirts of Greater London. It covers the eastern neighbourhoods of the large town of Croydon, including Addiscombe, Woodside, Shirley, Monks Orchard, Selsdon and New Addington. Like much of suburban London, Croydon grew rapidly during the 19th century with the arrival of rail transport and now serves as a commuter town.^[3][4] Wealth in the constituency is divided; the constituency contains four golf courses in the highly affluent area around Selsdon and Shirley, whilst New Addington has high levels of deprivation.^[5][6]

On average, residents of Croydon East have similar levels of income and professional employment to the rest of London, although they are less likely to be degree-educated.^[7] At the 2021 census, White people made up 55% of the population. Black people were the largest ethnic minority group at 22% and Asians were 13%.^[8] At the local borough council, most of the constituency is represented by Conservatives, although the areas closer to Croydon town centre (Addiscombe and Woodside) elected Labour Party councillors. In the 2016 referendum on European Union membership, an estimated 51% of voters in Croydon East favoured leaving the EU, similar to the country as a whole.^[7]

Croydon East was a short-lived seat for the 1950 general election, creating three seats in the County Borough of Croydon from the previous two, taking in areas from the East Surrey constituency to the south. Croydon East took in areas of the former Croydon North and Croydon South constituencies, and East Surrey. It bordered Croydon West, Croydon North and East Surrey, and, when created, Beckenham.

All three Croydon constituencies were abolished at the 1955 general election, re-creating Croydon South and creating Croydon North East and Croydon North West seats.

During its first existence, Croydon East had Conservative Members of Parliament. It saw three elections: the 1950 general election, the 1951 general election and a 1954 by-election. Prior to 1950, Croydon South had been held by Labour but most of its voters were re-drawn into Croydon West.

In 2024, the re-established seat was won by the Labour Party with a majority of 15.6%.

In April 2026, four Labour party activists were charged with criminal offences over allegations that a party database was manipulated to increase a candidate's chance of selection for the 2024 election.^[9][10]