He served as Chair, first of the Education Committee in the early 1990s and subsequently became Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group when they lost control of the Council in 1994.
At the 2005 general election, Pelling won the Croydon Central parliamentary seat by 75 votes, beating the incumbent, Labour's Geraint Davies.
[citation needed] On 18 September 2007 Pelling was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his wife Lucy after the Metropolitan Police received a complaint.
"[1] According to Pelling's own website, "The Leader of London's Green Party once called me 'the acceptable face of Conservatism'.
"[7] As an independent Pelling lost his seat to the Conservatives at the 2010 general election obtaining 6.5% of the vote in Croydon Central.
[8] In June 2013 it was announced Pelling would contest the marginal seat of Waddon in the upcoming Croydon Council elections.
[10] In the fourth episode of the Al Jazeera documentary "The Labour Files" it was revealed that much of the evidence used to prove Andrew Pelling had been leaking to the press was obtained through an email hacking against the blog "Inside Croydon", and that the Chief Whip, with permission from the London Regional Officer, used these hacked emails as evidence during the disciplinary case.
[12] Describing the Conservatives as out of touch with their 'one nation' roots, angered by their culture wars and believing that Britain was best suited inside Europe.