Activist and journalist Owen Jones went door to door in Croydon Central last night to convince residents of the marginal seat to re-elect Labour candidate Sarah Jones.

The Guardian columnist stressed how crucial the votes of Croydon Central residents are. “It will be down to people like you,” Jones told the crowd which filled the bridge on Blackhorse Lane in Croydon Central.

More than 50 people took to the streets of Croydon Central, campaigning with Croydon Momentum to support Jones, who held the constituency in 2017 with a majority of 5,652, defeating incumbent Gavin Barwell, who had held the seat since 2010. The marginal constituency has changed hands between Labour and Conservatives several times across previous elections.

Jones said: “I was here in Croydon Central and there was an army of overwhelmingly young people, who had never knocked on a single door in their entire life. And that people-power brought the Tories off their majority. And this same people-power can bring Labour to power altogether.”

Jones reminded the campaigners of the importance of “the courage and determination of people from below” of local campaigners, focusing on how the small scale has effects on a national level.

“Let’s just consider this moment: it’s the early hours of December 13. Boris Johnson and Jacob Reese-Mogg are hunched over a television screen. They go ghostly pale.”

“Jacob Rees-Mogg says something pretentious in Latin which loosely translates as ‘oh bugger’. And that is the moment we hear those magic words: “Croydon Central: Labour hold”.

Over the course of this week, Jones has been visiting marginal constituencies across the capital.

“You know people desperately want answers in a society where we had nine years of cuts. I think people are actually crying out for a bit of hope”, he told Eastlondonlines.

Candidate Jones sharply criticised the Conservative government, telling the crowd of campaigners: “This is not acceptable and it is perfectly reasonable for a political party to spend some more money on the services that we all need, because we are all worth it. And we have to go out there and tell the voters that they are worth this change and that we can make a change.”