Croydon could be facing a by-election after Waddon councillor Andrew Pelling put his hat in the ring to be the next Holborn and St Pancras MP.

The 55-year-old is one of 24 people who have applied to be the Labour Party candidate for the constituency in next year’s general election.

The seat is up for grabs as Frank Dobson, who has been the area’s member of parliament since 1979, is retiring.

Mr Pelling has been a councillor in Waddon since Labour took the ward from the Conservatives in the local elections in May.

Before he became a full-time politician, he was an international investment banker.

He was elected to Croydon Council in 1982 in Broad Green ward and later represented the ward of Heathfield.

From 2002 until 2005, he was the leader of the Conservative group in Croydon and stepped down from the council in 2006 after 24 years.

He was first elected to the London Assembly in 2000, and retained his seat in 2004.

He was a member of the London Development Agency and chaired the GLA budget committee.

At the 2005 general election he won the Croydon Central constituency seat by 75 votes, beating the incumbent Labour’s Geraint Davies.

Mr Pelling was outcast from the Conservative party after the whip was withdrawn following allegations he assaulted his wife in September 2007.

No charges were brought against Mr Pelling.

He stood as an independent candidate in the 2010 general election but the seat was won by Gavin Barwell.