On Saturday, Sydney mayor Clover Moore will be re-elected a fifth time. The only question is whether Team Clover – 10 candidates embodying the ethnic, generational and sexual diversity of the city – will increase its six-out-of-10 council majority.

Moore’s universally predicted victory will cement her position as Australia’s leading city-based politician of the post-Vietnam War era. It will also demonstrate the effectiveness of a devilishly deceptive strategy that has made her impregnable from the left and right.