Zac Goldsmith admits he’s behind in Mayor race as Tories make plea to election guru Crosby

Zac Goldsmith has admitted at a meeting of Conservative MPs that he is behind in the race for London Mayor.

During an address to the 1922 Committee of backbenchers, the Tory candidate said he needed to “close the gap” between him and Labour’s Sadiq Khan, who was seven-points ahead in the latest poll.

“He was clear that he had a lot of work to do between now and May,” said an MP present.

“He was given a warm reception from colleagues but nobody was left in any doubt that it’s a tough fight.”

One MP said senior figures at the party’s headquarters urged at a meeting this month that their general election adviser Sir Lynton Crosby, who ran the 2012 campaign for Boris, should be persuaded to take over.

“People are pleading with Lynton Crosby on a daily basis to take over Zac’s campaign,” said one Conservative.

Senior Tories had a rush of confidence when Jeremy Corbyn took over Labour’s leadership last autumn that they would keep control of City Hall when Boris Johnson ends his eight-year reign in May.

However, some are now nervous that the polls suggest Labour has pulled ahead after vigorous campaigning.

A YouGov poll on January 7 claimed Mr Khan had increased his share of first-round votes from 26 to 31 per cent since November, while Mr Goldsmith was unchanged at 24 per cent.

Asked who they would prefer in a head-to-head, Mr Khan won with a 10-point lead of 55-45.

A spokesman for Mr Goldsmith said: “We are behind in the polls, it’s fair to say, but Zac is working hard with his action plan for London.”

Mr Goldsmith launched his campaign formally this week with plans to build 50,000 homes on mayoral land and a pledge to ban foreign investors from buying the new homes.

He shrugged off criticism that he had waited too long before formally joining the race, saying: “It’s four months to the election, which is a long time.

“People are becoming interested in the issues now in a way that they weren’t a few weeks ago, and certainly a few months ago.”

Bookmakers William Hill said gamblers were “slow to buy into Goldsmith” who was 6/4 second-favourite, with Mr Khan the 8/15 favourite.