A review of Croydon LBC’s 2022 elections has backed chief executive Katherine Kerswell’s handling of the delayed result but said some criticism was ‘justified’.
As the returning officer, Ms Kerswell was heavily criticised after results for the Thursday 5 May election were not fully declared until Sunday 8 May.
The review, which was commissioned by Ms Kerswell before she removed herself from oversight to protect the integrity of the process, concluded the ‘outcome of the verification and count of the votes cast for the 2022 borough wards and executive mayor was transparent, safe and secure’.
Returning officer at Southampton City Council and elections spokesperson for senior officers’ group Solace, Mark Heath, and Robert Curtis, a former chair of the Association of Electoral Administrators, were tasked with overseeing the review.
The review authors wrote: ‘Criticism has been aimed at the returning officer for the way the verification and counts were held.
'The allegations cited poor leadership, inadequate delegation, slow decision-making, resources not utilised correctly and inadequate communication in the venue.
‘The criticism is in our view, to a limited extent, justified with those attending the venues subject to delays getting into the venue, long periods of inactivity in the halls and the mayoral count result extending beyond the predicted 10pm.
‘This was inconvenient and frustrating not only for those waiting for the mayoral result but those attending the borough ward counts.’
The report noted that the mayoral vote was won by just 589 votes, which forced the council into ‘lengthy assurance delays’.
