Tories’ election guru Lynton Crosby 'to advise Zac Goldsmith on Mayor bid'

 
Mayoral bid: Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith (Picture: Getty)

David Cameron's election guru is set to be an adviser on Zac Goldsmith’s bid to become Mayor of London, the Evening Standard has learned.

Lynton Crosby masterminded both of Boris Johnson’s victories at City Hall and is credited with securing the Prime Minister’s second term in office.

Now he and Mr Goldsmith have discussed a return to the mayoral battleground if the Tory MP is selected to be the Conservative candidate to succeed Mr Johnson in 2016.

A senior Tory said: “Nobody knows better than Lynton Crosby how to win in London, so naturally Zac is keen to take advice from him. This could be a game-changer.”

A senior executive from Mr Crosby’s firm, CTF Partners, has already joined Mr Goldsmith’s team in an unofficial capacity to help handle media calls.

However, there is no contract at present and nothing is expected to be agreed until “a very tough selection contest” is completed.

Bookmakers Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill all made Mr Goldsmith favourite to become the next Mayor after a flurry of betting following yesterday’s official announcement that he is running.

Lynton Crosby masterminded both of Boris Johnson’s victories at City Hall (Picture: Getty)

He is up against at least four Tory rivals, including London MEP Syed Kamall, businessman Ivan Massow, deputy mayor Stephen Greenhalgh and senior Assembly Member Andrew Boff.

Labour’s frontrunners are ex-minister Dame Tessa Jowell and MPs Sadiq Khan, David Lammy and Diane Abbott.

Mr Crosby has one of the sharpest brains in politics, with a ruthless ability to target key voters and divide opponents.

Former Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone, who was twice defeated by Crosby-led campaigns, has called him the “most successful propagandist since Goebbels”.

And Green Party peeress Jenny Jones admits: “To the horror of some of my colleagues, I think Lynton Crosby’s a very clever man.”

A no-nonsense Australian, he made his name helping John Howard, the former Australian premier, win a string of victories.

He even tamed Boris’s colourful style, persuading the Mayor to stop improvising when up for election and read from a ringbinder of lines.

Critics accuse him of squeezing spontaneity out of politics by getting ministers to parrot phrases. But Mr Crosby says politics is too serious to treat as entertainment.

Mr Johnson once revealed a Crosby technique to be “throwing a dead cat on the table, mate” to divert attention from a rival’s message.

The Mayor said: “The key point, says my Australian friend, is that everyone will shout ‘Jeez, mate, there’s a dead cat on the table!’; in other words, they will be talking about the dead cat, the thing you want them to talk about, and they will not be talking about the issue that has been causing you so much grief.”

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