Could Australian political strategist Isaac Levido take Rishi Sunak to an unlikely election victory?
He’s the boy from Port Macquarie who is in charge of taking Rishi Sunak to an unlikely UK election victory. Can he do it?
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The boy from Port Macquarie who is charged with running Rishi Sunak’s bid for another term in government has been described by his Australian friends and colleagues as a digital mastermind and “political gun” who always had politics in his blood.
Isaac Levido is being lauded by Australians conservatives as he faces the “herculean” task of leading Mr Sunak to a miracle victory over Labour in a six week campaign ahead of the July 4 election.
The former protege of fellow Australian strategist Lynton Crosby, of Crosby Textor, Mr Levido got his introduction to politics from his father — Port Macquarie lawyer Justin Levido who served on the local council.
After cutting his teeth doing campaigns for former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison and the 2019 UK election, the 40-year-old now faces the challenge of delivering a win for the Conservatives over poll-favourite Labour leader Keir Starmer.
Liberal Party federal director Andrew Hirst, under whom Mr Levido took Mr Morrison to victory in 2019, described his friend and colleague as a “consummate political professional”.
“Isaac is a consummate political professional — experienced, skilled, and possessing a very sound judgment,” he said.
‘He has a herculean task right now, given where Tories start this campaign but there’s few better to be in the political trenches with than Isaac.“
Other Liberal Party insiders who worked with Levido on the 2019 campaign also described his political astuteness with one saying the strategist “knows how to campaign and knows how to win”.
“Isaac is a political gun, he is a master of micro-targeting and understanding what audiences want,“ one former colleague said.
“He
has a big target ahead of him, but he knows how to campaign and he knows how to win.”
They added that Mr Levido had aced the digital campaign in the 2019 election as well as the 2022 election — a “huge skill set that had been missing for a while”.
Another Australian former colleague described Mr Levido as a “great operator who knows what he is doing”.
“He’s well regarded and knows his stuff. Conservatives over there rate him very highly,“ they said.
Port Macquarie Mayor Peta Pinson said she was proud of her former constituent for making it to the highest ranks of international politics.
“I don’t know Isaac personally, his father sat on the council. Any resident of the Port Macquarie Hastings region that reaches the top of the game whether it be here or overseas is a wonderful achievement,” she said.
“It’s amazing the level in politics he has reached.”
It’s believed Mr Levido is urging the Tories to remain united ahead of the election, despite ominous polling, and is pushing for a campaign focused on the economy.
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