A source close to Lynton Crosby, the man rumoured to be heading to Canada to help right the listing Conservative campaign, says the story is being ‘overplayed.’
“The idea that Mr. Crosby has jetted off to Canada is simply not true. He sat in a meeting several doors down from me this morning,” the source said.
Crosby is a controversial Australian campaign fixer who is credited with helping David Cameron confound the polls and secure a majority victory in last May’s U.K. election. Crosby is the co-founder of C-T-F Partners which has an office in London, England.
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The source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said that Mr. Crosby is ‘rung-up’ for advice all the time.
“He’s been called, and offered some advice.”
In-Depth: Federal Election 2015
After it was reported that Mr. Crosby advised Harper`s campaign, the source said it has since ‘taken on a life of its own’.
He confirmed that Mr. Crosby has known people in Canada for several years and offers advice from time to time.
Tim Bale who teaches politics at Queen Mary University in London says Mr. Crosby is famous for using ‘pretty brutal tactics’ against some of his opponents.
“In particular, Mr Crosby is able to choose wedge issues – like migration – which tend to divide voters who would normally vote for the center-left,” Bale said.
Bale says that ‘message discipline’ is also one of the key tactics Crosby deploys during a campaign.
“He`s good at getting the barnacles off the boat – in other words, getting rid of all the stuff that doesn’t really matter to voters and really zeroing in on the messages that voters want to hear,” Bale said.
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