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Polly Smythe

@pollysmythe.bsky.social
283 followers 19 following 30 posts

Reporter @londoncentric.media | stories and tips to polly@londoncentric.media | signal: pollysmythe.92

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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Great to see the FT picking up @londoncentric.media's story on the curious sale of Nick Candy's mansion to Suneil Setiya www.ft.com/content/1ca6...
ft.com
Labour MPs call for end to loophole that trimmed billionaire’s tax bill by £18mn
Quadrature Capital’s Suneil Setiya would have been liable for higher rate of stamp duty had he not bought five flats together with London mansion
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Want to know how to save £18.5 million in stamp duty? Along with Dan Neidle, @londoncentric.media took a look at the curious sale of Nick Candy’s mansion – London’s most expensive house – to billionaire hedge fund boss and Labour Party donor Suneil Setiya www.londoncentric.media/p/londons-mo...
londoncentric.media
London’s most expensive house, Reform UK’s treasurer, and a massively reduced tax bill
A £265m mansion in the heart of the Chelsea • Sold by billionaire Nick Candy and his ex-wife Holly Valance • Bought by a Labour-donating hedge fund boss • Why was the tax bill so small?
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
For this week's London Centric, we've looked into the new and totally legal tactic that's being used to try to squeeze as much rent as possible from London’s private tenants in the face of the Renters’ Rights Act – the inverse bidding war www.londoncentric.media/i/211878305/...
londoncentric.media
London landlords’ latest tactic: Inverse bidding wars
Plus: London’s most ‘given up on August’ street • What caused the big fire? • Dodgy shops raids to come • Buy a kayak, the floods are coming.
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Together with @jim.londoncentric.media, I spent a day trying to track down the Londoner running gift shops that recently burned down in Scotland. It was a quest that took me from Wood Green to Dagenham, and left me with more questions than answers www.londoncentric.media/p/edinburgh-...
londoncentric.media
On the trail of a London gift shop owner
Plus: "Vertical drinking" politics • Robocop comes to Greggs • Robotaxis controlled by humans • London's festivals-in-parks mess
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
I spent yesterday knocking on doors in Britannia Point, a very hot glass-fronted tower block in Colliers Wood, trying to understand how private tenants had access to air conditioning when those in temporary accommodation didn't – give the piece a read
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Had a great time working on this with @jim.londoncentric.media - a story that took me to multiple courts, across East London, and into parts of the internet I’d never strayed before open.substack.com/pub/londonce...
open.substack.com
The teenage millionaire hacker from Tower Hamlets who took down TfL
Traced through his takeaway order • Began playing Roblox • Allegedly handled £200m in Crypto • Based in his family flat near Bow Road station • One of the country's leading hackers
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
Absolutely delighted to have won an Orwell prize for reporting homelessness and come runner-up for exposing Britain’s social evils! London Centric is a tiny team, so seeing our stories get recognition is wonderful and wild. Thanks as always to my truly wonderful editor @jim.londoncentric.media
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 20/06/2026
Brixton Market, private equity threats, and can you raise £15m in 72 hours for a leveraged community takeover? www.londoncentric.media/p/brixton-ma...
londoncentric.media
What's really going on at Brixton Market?
The rush to raise £15m by Monday • London's indoor markets are facing fresh challenges • Who's actually wanting to buy it?
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 03/06/2026
A Restore Britain spokesperson went viral claiming a London school left a pupil in tears after her ham sandwich was confiscated due to the school's ban on park. She challenged doubters to phone the school. So @kdenkwrites.com did. This is what she found: www.londoncentric.media/i/193542671/...
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 02/06/2026
Leaked messages show how Lime has quietly removed speed restrictions in London's parks and pedestrian areas for Deliveroo riders in a bid to win them over to its service. www.londoncentric.media/p/lime-bike-...
londoncentric.media
Lime axes speed limits for Deliveroo riders
Plus: How to end the tube strikes • Did a London school really ban ham sandwiches? • Who's reclaiming lost sex toys from TfL? • Was a Waymo really lost on Waterloo Bridge?
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Air-to-air heat pumps, fights at the lido, and West End strikes – here's a mid-week London Centric edition for anybody still able to read in this heat www.londoncentric.media/p/london-hea...
londoncentric.media
London's air con era is here
Plus: Kid's Meal Summer is coming to London • Petition to save a restaurant that doesn't want saving • A Wicked strike • The £5.5m London home for people who want to slide into their private cinema
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
🚨NEW: the RMT has called off this week's planned tube strikes A union spokesperson said: "At the 11th hour the employer has shifted its position allowing us to further explore our members concerns around the imposition of new rosters" New strike dates have been announced for 2 June and 4 June
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
As part of the 2.5 journalists in a trenchcoat, I'm delighted that our work is up for two Orwell Prizes
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
What do the local election results mean for London? @jim.londoncentric.media and I broke down who won, what will actually change, as well as things you might have missed open.substack.com/pub/londonce...
open.substack.com
How the elections will change London
Who won, what will they do in your local area, and what does this mean for Sadiq Khan?
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 06/05/2026
Reform UK expels London election candidates on eve of poll after London Centric uncovers them as ex-BNP members. www.londoncentric.media/p/reform-lon...
londoncentric.media
Reform candidates were BNP members
Plus: When you'll know the election results, where Labour is playing defence, the Extinction Rebellion founder backing candidates in Lambeth, and the Reform MP still urging people to vote Tory.
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Very happy dipping my toe back in the union world - I drilled down into what today’s strike action was actually about
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Emiliano Mellino @mellino.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
If you read our investigation on the restaurant that ignored more than 20 tribunal judgments & thought "how bad can it get?" then read this amazing piece by @pollysmythe.bsky.social @londoncentric.media about the systematic non-payment of wages in hospitality www.londoncentric.media/p/is-your-co...
londoncentric.media
Is your coffee being made by an unpaid trial shifter?
Plus: Kanye vs Haringey Council, curious commenters, and the new Lime bike arrives on the streets of London.
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Did the person making your coffee get paid? I looked into how working for free just to be considered for a job is becoming the new normal in the capital, as young people navigate an increasingly brutal hunt for work www.londoncentric.media/i/192962193/...
londoncentric.media
Is your coffee being made by an unpaid trial shifter?
Plus: Kanye vs Haringey Council, curious commenters, and the new Lime bike arrives on the streets of London.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 04/04/2026
There’s been a lot written about the Clapham chaos this week. It’s probably one of the biggest global news stories about London this year. There’s a lot of emotion and speculation. So we tried to establish the facts and understand what *actually* happened. www.londoncentric.media/p/clapham-ch...
londoncentric.media
What actually happened in Clapham last week?
Teenagers running riot in an M&S food hall, disorder as a form of content creation, and a global focus on 'petty' crime in London just when the mayor least wants it.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 01/04/2026
Four weeks ago I asked billionaire Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital if they'd been issuing fake electrical safety papers to their tenants. Why? Because when we went door-to-door, we kept noticing the paperwork was curiously identical. And tenants said they'd never seen an electrician. Little thread:
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 01/04/2026
London’s viral video crisis: “London has fallen” content has become so pervasive globally that Sadiq Khan held a meeting with the foreign office and British ambassadors to discuss how to convince foreign investors/tourists to ignore it and come to London. www.londoncentric.media/p/sadiq-khan...
londoncentric.media
The London viral video crisis
Plus: "Gulf Candy" on Oxford Street, a £4m converted chapel in north London, and we finally get answers from Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital.
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Reform held its London local election launch tonight in Croydon - speeches from Farage, London mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham, and the newly unveiled Croydon mayoral candidate Ben Flook
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
I took a trip down to Richmond to get to the bottom of the bizarre economics of temporary accommodation in London - read the piece here
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 24/03/2026
Asif Aziz’s company in the Guardian, sticking to their line that sending someone a section 21 letter is not an eviction. “More than a third of households who were sent s21 notices had moved, Criterion said: ‘These were tenant-led decisions and we have supported them – they were not evictions.’”
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 20/03/2026
from a little publication to PMQs and BBC homepage in a month, London Centric stories get coverage. The issue now is whether coverage is enough for the people who are stuck in limbo at the hands of Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital despite doing nothing wrong. Government quote at end of this is telling.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 17/03/2026
Angela Rayner today decided to directly take on the “incredibly vindictive” landlord Asif Aziz over mass evictions of his tenants. She joined Croydon Labour mayoral candidate Rowenna Davis to say Aziz’s company has acted in a “disgusting and disgraceful” manner and “should not be landlords”.
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Josh Gabert-Doyon @joshgd100.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
Wrote about Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital and how landlords are changing strategies - with more evictions and changes in tenancies - ahead of the Renters Rights Act. Building on great reporting by @jim.londoncentric.media @pollysmythe.bsky.social and others as.ft.com/r/97c52505-0...
as.ft.com
London landlord begins evictions ahead of new renters’ rights law
[FREE TO READ] Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital owns several apartment blocks in capital as well as Trocadero centre in Piccadilly
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 28/02/2026
Sadiq Khan’s letter to Asif Aziz. The mayor met Asif Aziz only last week at an Aziz Foundation charitable event. A week later, Aziz isn’t responding to the mayor.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 27/02/2026
Breaking: *Asif Aziz's mass evictions of Londoners appear to be BACK ON *Sadiq Khan personally demands immediate response from the landlord *Leading homelessness charity cuts ties with the Aziz family and refuses donation *Questions over legality of paperwork www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
londoncentric.media
Can Sadiq Khan stop Asif Aziz's mass evictions?
We went to the billionaire's home to get answers, as a leading homelessness charity cut ties with the landlord and tenants begged the mayor to save their homes.
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
On Sunday, @londoncentric.media broke the story that Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital was undertaking London’s “worst mass eviction in recent history” - after our investigation, hundreds of tenants who received section 21s have now had them rescinded www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
londoncentric.media
Billionaire halts mass eviction after London Centric investigation
Exclusive: Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital hoped to replace hundreds of tenants with more lucrative temporary accommodation. That plan has been shelved – for now.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 23/02/2026
Sadiq Khan's spokesperson on story: “It is completely unacceptable for Criterion Capital to evict hundreds of people out of their homes due to no fault of their own. The Deputy Mayor for Housing has contacted Criterion to make the Mayor’s position clear and strongly urge them to reconsider."
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
I’ve spent the last few days piecing together London’s “worst mass eviction in recent history” along with @jim.londoncentric.media. The landlord responsible? Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
londoncentric.media
The billionaire philanthropist making hundreds of Londoners homeless
He's the London philanthropist who says he's committed to solving homelessness. So why is Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital rushing to make hundreds of Londoners homeless in the coming weeks?
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 22/02/2026
This started as a single tip about one building but on a hunch we got @pollysmythe.bsky.social to chase around London and check all the Aziz family’s properties. Sometimes she got there just before the eviction notices. The scale of the clearout is enormous – and we don't think we found all of it.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 22/02/2026
Earlier this week the Aziz family stood with Sadiq Khan on stage and praised London’s community values. Now they’re conducting a sudden clearout of almost all private tenants from their vast residential property holdings, seemingly to replace them with more profitable temporary accommodation.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 22/02/2026
London’s “worst mass eviction in recent history” is underway; hundreds of households across London told to get out of their homes this week by the same landlord, ahead of the renters rights act. The landlord? Billionaire Asif Aziz’s Criterion Capital. www.londoncentric.media/p/asif-aziz-...
londoncentric.media
Who's the billionaire behind London’s biggest mass eviction?
He's the London philanthropist who says he's committed to solving homelessness. So why is Asif Aziz's Criterion Capital rushing to make hundreds of Londoners homeless in the coming weeks?
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 08/02/2026
Hate-filled fake videos about London are everywhere. We've obtained a recording of a TikToker confessing to secretly filming Londoners in their homes for clicks. He says it's not political. He just wants to make money from far-right anger. Read what he says: www.londoncentric.media/p/london-tik...
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 28/01/2026
been trying to track down Waymo's self-driving hq in London, just going to be endlessly intriguing to see how the capital copes! Could be totally second nature normal to get a robotaxi to the pub by the start of next year. www.londoncentric.media/i/185941171/...
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 24/01/2026
This is one of the strangest and most screwed-up stories I’ve worked on. www.londoncentric.media/p/tiktok-lon...
londoncentric.media
Who's secretly filming fake TikToks inside Londoners' homes?
We tracked down the viral video account invading people's houses to spread false claims about immigrants.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 21/01/2026
Fire on London's Loughborough Estate this morning. Seemingly now under control per @pollysmythe.bsky.social who is there on the ground, but will focus attention on an estate we've investigated wild claims of corruption and illegal chemical storage: www.londoncentric.media/p/the-london...
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 18/01/2026
Nine years ago a Twitter user was sending poetry to Sadiq Khan about London’s many cultural identities. A decade on, Reform UK’s mayoral candidate doesn’t dispute it was her old account - so what’s changed? Our profile of Laila Cunningham: www.londoncentric.media/p/laila-cunn...
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 10/12/2025
London Centric has obtained Reform UK's internal candidate training slides for next year's local elections. How does the party plan to win big in London? “Don’t drink and tweet”, focus on potholes and bins, and stay off social media. Read all here: www.londoncentric.media/p/reform-uk-...
open.substack.com
Reform UK's leaked plan to win in London
Plus: Is this Google Map the way to unlock London's real hidden gem restaurants, are you the driver who owes Hackney council £250,000, and is the Bakerloo finally getting new trains?
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 02/12/2025
Among other issues with Zipcar's model in London: Having to negotiate individually with 32 boroughs, some of which charged thousands of pounds per car. Meanwhile, Croydon council outsourced much of their employee car fleet to Zipcar and may be a bit screwed. www.londoncentric.media/p/zipcar-lon...
londoncentric.media
Why Zipcar gave up on London
The car-sharing scheme was hit by rapidly increased costs, a new congestion charge, and a lack of support from councils.
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 26/11/2025
Decided to provide some budget counter-programming, here’s some London transport trends over the last year. www.londoncentric.media/p/tfl-london...
londoncentric.media
Less WFH, more Lime, slower buses
What's really going on in London transport?
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Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 18/11/2025
The brutal reality of life as an Android owner in London: First you’re shocked as you’re mugged. Then you’re humiliated as the thief returns the device. www.londoncentric.media/p/london-pho...
londoncentric.media
"Don't want no Samsung"
Plus: Scroll down to see what might be the strangest new artwork in the capital and read more on our investigations into the capital's landlords.
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Polly Smythe @pollysmythe.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
London's thieves are burying phones in flowerbeds - it was great fun to work on this bizarre story for @londoncentric.media www.londoncentric.media/p/london-pho...
londoncentric.media
London's thieves are burying phones in flowerbeds
The police don't take much interest in returning the stolen devices when they're dug up — so London Centric decided to do it.
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