Controversial attack ad on Sadiq Khan made solely by Tory HQ, source says

The controversial Conservative attack video that portrayed London as a crime-racked hellhole was put together by the central party rather than its mayoral candidate, and has dismayed some around Susan Hall, the Guardian has learned.

The brief but dramatic film features an American-accented voiceover declaring the city the “crime capital of the world” and, using dubious claims, sought to blame Sadiq Khan.

While Hall is the main challenger to the incumbent London mayor in the 2 May election, a Tory party source said the video was entirely the work of Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ), and had not been well received.

One party official said that if Hall’s team were annoyed, it would be “odd for them to be displeased at a huge spike in people talking online about Sadiq Khan’s record on crime and Ulez”.

Hall’s most recent video, posted to YouTube two days ago, is a notably more sober affair in which the Conservative candidate also talks about Ulez and crime, but without any false claims.

Some Conservative MPs have expressed worries that CCHQ output such as the Hall video points towards a likely Donald Trump-echoing approach in the general election, in which openly incorrect claims are made to create an impact.