The political landscape in Croydon could change dramatically if a High Court ruling orders a council byelection be held in Waddon.

A fresh ballot could see the ruling Conservatives, with a majority of just three, losing overall power if Waddon’s three Tory Croydon council seats fall into Labour opposition’s hands.

The unprecendented situation has come about after unsuccessful Labour candidate David Christison complained that long queues at the Waddon polling station led to dozens of people losing their chance to vote.

Mr Christison issued an election petition to the Chief Returning Officer Jon Rouse, after an estimated 80 people were turned away as the pollings station closed.

Now a High Court judge has ruled an election commissioner should be appointed to oversee a five-day hearing in Croydon to investigate the claims.

A spokeswoman from the judicial office said: “A commissioner, Richard Mawrey QC, has been appointed to the case. He is an expert in electoral law.

“He will hear the election petition in Croydon and then make a report with recommendations for judges in the High Court to sign off.

“Ultimately he could decide that the election has to be re-run.

“Something like this is certainly not common. It is quite unusual.”

The news comes at a particularly troublesome time for the Conservative administration, who have just announced swingeing cuts to the voluntary sector directly affecting residents in Waddon.

Volunteer organisation Together in Waddon, which provides services for hundreds of elderly people and children in the area has been forced to shut down after they lost all of their funding.

Mr Christison was one of the three Labour council hopefuls who stood for election in Waddon, historically one of the most marginal wards in the borough.

He polled 500 fewer votes than his nearest Conservative rival but said he issued the election petition to challenge the “scandal” of people being denied the right to vote.

He insisted he was not seeking another chance to get elected and said: “I am pleased with the High Court result. The people of Waddon will finally have the chance to get their voices heard.”

A date has not been set for the election hearing but it is expected to take place in September in Croydon.

Council leader Mike Fisher said: “I can’t help but feel this is a waste of people’s time and tax payers’ money.

“It is being funded through legal aid. If it was a five-day hearing the costs would be more than £100,000.

“If this was an election where someone had lost by a handful of votes, I could see the point. But Mr Christison was 500 votes behind his nearest rival.”

A council spokesman said: “The purpose of the hearing was to agree the steps, or directions, that will next be taken in order to dispose of the petition.

“The Returning Officer is pleased the directions submitted on his behalf were accepted without amendment by the court.”

What a by election might mean

In the May 6 election, the incumbent Conservative candidates held on to their seats.

But as the Conservatives won the election by just 37 seats to 34, a Labour win could see them take the majority in the council.

If Labour wins two of the three seats, it would result in a hung council and winning just one seat off the Conservatives would narrow the ruling administration’s majority to just one seat.

The Conservative councillors elected on May 6 were Tony Harris, with 2,656 votes, Clare Hilley, with 2,627 votes and Simon Hoar with 2,423 votes.

Waddon is historically the most marginal ward in the borough, changing hands many times over the years.

In 1994, Labour won all three seats. Then, in 1998, the ward returned one Labour and two Conservative councillors, one of whom defected to the Liberal Democrats.

In 2002, Labour won all three seats, with one of them scraping home with a majority of just eight votes.

In the 2006 elections, Waddon returned three Conservative councillors.