Councillor Gavin Barwell has been selected as the parliamentary candidate to replace Andrew Pelling.

Following the decision by Andrew Pelling not to stand for re-election Croydon Central Conservatives have selected Gavin Barwell to stand for the next General Election.

He was selected from a field of more than 100 applicants.

Gavin grew up in Shirley and was educated at Trinity School. He is now chairman of governors at Trinity.

He lives in South Croydon with his wife Karen and their two boys Jack, five, and Sam, two.

He has been a member of Croydon Council since 1998 and is currently the cabinet member responsible for the Council's finances and customer services.

Following his selection, Gavin said: "I am deeply honoured to have been selected as the Conservative candidate for my home town.

"Andrew is going to be a hard act to follow. He has been an outstanding local MP and I look forward to working closely with him between now and the next election.

"Croydon is a great place but in some ways it has changed for the worse in recent years. Our new council is trying to turn things round but too often the Government makes it impossible.

"People are crying out for change. I look forward to working with David Cameron to convince them that, under his leadership, the Conservative Party can be trusted to deliver that change."