It’s five weeks to go until the local elections and Tory high command are stepping up their attacks. On Monday, the Conservatives released the first of several videos focusing on Labour controlled administrations. A 70-second, black-and-white video attacked Sadiq Khan’s record and gravely intoned that ‘London under Labour has become a crime capital of the world.’ But the in-house clip, voiced by an unknown actor, has since divided opinion among Tories, amid controversy over its use of footage from a New York subway station.

Mayoral candidate Susan Hall was quick to distance herself from the adverts, telling the BBC that the video had ‘nothing to do’ with her team. Hall’s spokesman subsequently confirmed that the video had been created by Conservative Party headquarters. Assembly Member Andrew Boff went further, telling Politico: ‘Susan Hall has a hugely positive message, and one that is independent of the contribution of what I can only assume was an inexperienced intern at CCHQ.’

One London Tory told Steerpike that there are fears that such attacks could backfire by allowing Khan to go on the offensive and attack the Conservatives for their campaign tactics, rather than being forced to defend his own record on crime.

❓ What is the price you have to pay living under Labour?

? Sadly, Birmingham residents are paying that price!

? Go woke, go broke. #LifeUnderLabour?

pic.twitter.com/N3lj7N5oXO

— Jonathan Gullis MP (@GullisJonathan) March 27, 2024

Undeterred, CCHQ have since released a second advert, focusing this time on Birmingham. Jonathan Gullis, the newly-appointed deputy-chairman, was quick to share the video, writing on Twitter/X that ‘Birmingham residents are paying’ the price of ‘living under Labour’ adding ‘Go woke, go broke.’ Talk about doubling down.

Still, Mr S has been told there are signs these tactics are working in the party’s favour. Word in CCHQ is that the video has got approximately 50 million impressions. One Tory source pointed to a ‘very big spike’ in social media conversations containing the words ‘Khan’ and ‘crime’ with increased online searches from people looking up the relevant statistics.

Guess we will know come election day…