MAYORAL ELECTIONS: The teams behind the candidates

The comms teams behind Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick are working flat-out to stay on top of the media in the final few days of the London mayoral race.

MAYORAL COMMS: See an organogram of the media teams behind the key candidates  

Australian election guru Lynton Crosby is running the show for the Tories, presiding over possibly the most tightly managed campaign in UK electoral history.

His vice-like grip on the candidate's movements reflects Tory fears that the Johnson campaign could be derailed by a major gaffe. But a number of Johnson's allies have privately expressed concerns that his personality is being stifled.

Livingstone has much more of a free reign, but has still made a smart move bringing in Joy Johnson as his campaign chief. Johnson's political acumen and Livingstone's genius for street-fighting campaigns have already combined to help the candidate rec­over from some early setbacks.