Labour has told its supporters that the Conservatives are probably ahead on postal votes in the London Assembly and Mayor of London elections in an attempt to bolster support in Thursday's elections, BuzzFeed News has learned.
In recent weeks, polls have suggested that Labour candidate Sadiq Khan is on track to overwhelmingly defeat his Conservative rival Zac Goldsmith.
Despite this, a number of sources on Khan's campaign have said that there should be "no complacency" on their part and stressed the importance of boosting voter turnout.
Now, in an email seen by BuzzFeed News, Labour organisers are telling supporters the campaign needs their help because past trends suggest that Conservatives traditionally take the lead in postal votes.
"The polls suggest Sadiq Khan is ahead. The problem is turnout – the London elections are notorious for low numbers of voters turning out to cast their ballots," Labour organiser John Lindsley wrote to supporters in Harrow, northwest London.
"Last year's general election saw turnout at 66.1 per cent. The last London Elections (2012) saw a mere turnout of 33 per cent, of which the Tories capitalised heavily."
"Moreover, the odds are already stacked against Sadiq... Why? Well, the Tories are already ahead on postal votes cast. So, we are playing catch up across London," Lindsely claimed.
When pressed on the matter, Lindsley told BuzzFeed News his claim was based on past trends rather than actual votes.
"In simple form, the Conservatives historically have done a lot better on postal votes throughout the country," Lindsley said. "It's based on demographics that are more inclined to vote that way, Harrow being one of them."
Lindsley also claimed that despite a good performance by Labour in the last mayoral elections in 2012, outgoing Conservative mayor Boris Johnson outperformed the party on postal votes.
The Labour organiser has also been running a series of phonebanks for Khan's campaign and, in his email, wrote that more support was needed: "The aim of any polling day operation is to increase the turnout of Labour votes to ensure that Labour get more votes than the opposition parties and win the election. We cannot be distracted by anything else on the day.
"An effective polling day knock-up operation can add up to 15 per cent to the number of Labour voters who cast votes in Harrow, so it's essential that we have the best knock-up operation we can."