Four senior Labour figures are being charged following a criminal investigation into vote-rigging allegations in Croydon East. The allegations against them centre on irregularities in the Labour candidate selection process for the constituency.
The Standardnamed the individuals involved as ex-Croydon councillor Carole Bonner, Unison organiser and prospective candidate Joel Bodmer, Shila Bodmer, and Gabriel Leroy.
All four face charges of conspiracy and computer misuse. Joel Bodhmer is also being charged with perverting the course of justice over suspicions that he tampered with phone records.
The Labour Party has immediately suspended all four individuals.
‘A whole new level’ of (alleged) dodginess in Croydon
Back in 2023, Labour Party members in Croydon East filed complaints about their contact details being altered. Somebody had apparently falsified their phone numbers and email addresses. This, in turn, meant that some of the potential parliamentary candidates couldn’t vote in the selection process.
Eventually, Labour had to temporarily call a halt to the selection process. Some of the injured parties levelled allegations of targeted vote rigging.
Joel Bodhmer withdrew from the race, leaving Natasha Irons to win both the selection process and the Labour safe seat.
At the time, the Morning Starquoted investigative journalist Michael Crick stating:
there are suggestions that this could be part of a much wider campaign that involves senior party figures, a systematic programme of data protection offences and interference in Labour’s supposedly democratic procedures.
Notably, Crick found evidence of current and former members being registered to vote online without their consent or knowledge. However, the charges announced today don’t appear to relate to these potential offences.
The Morning Star also alleged that:
The Labour apparatus has worked overtime to ensure that only candidates favoured by Starmer are chosen in winnable seats, usually by refusing to shortlist popular left candidates. However, vote-rigging would take the fixing to a whole new level.
Other selections where there was a huge discrepancy between in-person and online votes include the revised Merthyr seat in Wales, where sitting left MP Beth Winter was deselected and Sam Tarry’s Ilford South seat.
Conspiracy and cyber-crime
In March 2024, the Metropolitan Police launched its official investigation into the Croydon East allegations.
On 21 April 2026, a spokesman for the Met stated that:
The Crown Prosecution Service has authorised charges against four people after an investigation by the Met’s Cyber Crime Unit into allegations that a Labour Party database was manipulated to increase a candidate’s chances of selection in Croydon.
The individuals have been charged with conspiracy to commit an offence contrary to Section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 and Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
Section 3 of the Computer Misuse Act relates to unauthorised acts “with intent to impair” the operation of computer.
Frank Ferguson, leader of the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, announced:
Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
We have worked closely with the Metropolitan Police Service as it has carried out its investigation.
We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against these defendants are active and that they have the right to a fair trial.
It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
‘We cannot comment further’
The four defendants from Croydon East Labour are scheduled to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 19 May.
A spokesperson for the Labour Party said:
These are incredibly serious charges.
When complaints were first raised with the Labour Party we conducted a thorough internal investigation and we referred the matter to the police as soon as potential criminal wrongdoing was identified.
We cannot comment further while legal proceedings are ongoing.
This latest scandal will come as unwelcome news for Labour. Earlier this year, the PLP faced allegations of blocking Andy Burnham’s candidacy for Gorton and Denton because he posed a threat to Starmer and the party’s right wing.
Likewise, on 17 April, we learned that Peter Mandelson failed the vetting for his position as ambassador to the US. However, Starmer and/or other senior Labour figures reportedly pressed through Mandelson’s appointment in spite of his name appearing in the Epstein files.
Alongside these recent scandals, vote rigging allegations would appear par-for-the-course for Starmer’s Labour.
Featured image via the Canary
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