The list of candidates for the upcoming West Thornton by-election has been finalised.

Croydon Conservatives have announced that party activist and "born and raised" Upper Norwood resident Scott Roche will be their challenger in the Labour stronghold on May 5.

And perennial candidate Winston McKenzie plans to stand for his current party the English Democrats, following a recent failure to get his name on the ballot for the London mayoral election.

The by-election has been triggered by the departure of Cllr Emily Benn, who announced her resignation last month after accepting a job offer in New York less than two years after becoming a councillor.

RELATED: Emily Benn resigns as Croydon councillor for West Thornton

Last month Labour announced their candidate to replace Cllr Benn would be Callton Young, a former senior civil servant and organiser of the Thornton Heath Festival.

Mr Roche's candidacy was announced over the weekend in a tweet from Croydon Conservatives.

Tim Pollard, leader of the Croydon Conservatives, said the party had received four applicants for the position, adding: "Of them he [Mr Roche] was the person who had his feet most on the ground in Croydon North and understood the issues in the area."

RELATED: Labour select candidate Callton Young after date announced for West Thornton by-election

According to Croydon Conservatives, Mr Roche, 30, has lived in the borough all his life and works as a "vendor coordinator" in the City of London.

West Thornton has traditionally been a safe ward for Labour, which holds all three seats.

But Cllr Pollard said: "There's always a chance in an election, you never know what's going to happen. They say a week is a long time in politics "Obviously they have held that seat for something like 20 years, so they will be the frontrunners - but you never know in local politics."

The Green Party and the Liberal Democrats, as well as Eurosceptic parties Ukip, Independence from Europe and the English Democrats are also fielding candidates.

On Thursday Mr McKenzie told the Croydon Guardian he had successfully filed his paperwork to stand for the English Democrats in the by-election after his "very upsetting" exit from the London mayoral race.

RELATED: 'I'm going to give George Galloway a heart attack': Winston McKenzie reveals plan to get Mayoral campaign back on track

The former Ukip member missed the deadline for registration after officials spotted a duplicated signature on his nomination form.

He said: "I'm looking forward to it [the by-election]. There's going to be fireworks - there always are when I'm involved.

"I've been knocking on doors - there's a lot of issues."

The vote will take place on the same day as the London Mayoral and London Assembly elections.

People who wish to vote in the by-election need to register with Croydon Council April 18.

The full list of candidates is:

David Beall, Thornton Heath - Green Party 

Winston McKenzie, South Norwood - English Democrats 

Peter Morgan, Coulsdon - Independence from Europe

Geoff Morley, South Norwood - Liberal Democrats

Ace Nnorom, Croydon - UK Independence Party (UKIP) 

Scott Roche, Upper Norwood - Conservatives

Callton Young, Croydon - Labour

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