Croydon: Voters to decide on mayor referendum

A mayoral referendum is being held in Croydon to decide how the south London borough will be run in future.

Voters are being asked to decide whether the council should continue in its current format or switch to a mayoral model - similar to ones used in Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

It follows a petition signed by 21,000 residents.

Polling stations for the referendum in Croydon will open from 07:00 BST and are due to close at 22:00.

Croydon Council has been run using the leader model since 2001.

The leader is elected by the council itself for a term of four years, and they hold the executive powers of the council.

Those powers can be delegated to their deputy leader or cabinet - consisting of up to nine councillors.

The mayoral model is largely the same, but the mayor is voted on by the electorate and is not themselves a councillor.

A key difference is that the council would be unable to remove the mayor during their term, as they can in the leader model. This is only possible through the mayor's own resignation.