Lynton Crosby, Australian strategist, hired by Tories to boost political fortunes

Stephen Harper is goingDown Under to come up on top.

Withpolls suggesting the Conservatives are struggling in third place, the party has reached out to Lynton Crosby, atop Australian political campaign strategistwho has beencredited withsecuring victoriesforBritish Prime Minister David Cameron and other right-leaning leaders.

Crosby, known as the "Wizard of Oz" for his string of political successes, isworking withthe Tories as their campaign tries to regain momentum after a series of negative headlines.

But theexact role he willplayis unclear. Conservative campaign spokesman Kory Teneyckewould only say that "Crosbyis somebody that pretty much everyone in our organization has known for a long time, we've had a lot of cross-pollination over the years with our friends in Australia and also the U.K."

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Teneycke wouldn't get into details, butdenied Crosby wasrunning the campaign,adding, however, "he's been around for a very long time and continues to be around."

Crosby is widely acknowledged for playing a key role in the surprising majority victory ofCameron's Conservative Party in Britain this year.He was also the national campaign director for the successful campaigns offormer Australia prime ministerJohn Howardin 1998 and 2001 and was behind the winning London mayoral campaigns of Boris Johnson in 2008 and 2012.

He has been described as theAustralianKarl Rove, after thekey adviser to former U.S presidentGeorge W. Bush.According to a Guardian profile of him, Crosby employsthe strategyof wedge politicsfinding an issue that can be exploited to split off an opponent's traditional supporters.

In2013, for the Patchwork Foundation,Crosby outlined some of his political strategies to20 youth leaders, which can be seen on YouTube.

"Message matters most. If you don't have a message that'srelevant topeople, that connects what matters to them, you can spend millions on advertising, you can spend millions on direct mail, but it won'tstrike a chord with people so itwon't have an effect on them andtheir lives," he says.

"A campaignis simplyfinding out who will decide theoutcome,where are they, what matters to themand how do youreach them and how do youmonitor theimpact of what you'redoing when you'recommunicatingwiththem," he says."Who is the target for you?Who matters?"

Crosby says that it's important to have a clear and written strategy,to make sure everything that's done is to reinforce that strategy and that you're"noteasilypulledfrom pillar to post by whatever the latestmedia story is."

Jenni Byrne sent back to Ottawa

News that Crosby will be helping the Tories insome capacity comes a day afterCBC News reportedHarper's campaign manager Jenni Byrnewasbeing sent back to Ottawa aspart of an effort to refocus the campaign, after weeks in which their message has been overtaken by other events.

Those events include the unseemly actions of two Conservative candidates, one of whom had been recorded on video urinating into a mug while on a service call at a private home, while the other was removed for making prank calls recorded on YouTube that mockedpeople with disabilities.

Harper has lately faced repeatedcriticism that his government hasnot doneenough to address the Syrian refugee crisis. He hasalso been dogged by mediaquestions about revelations from theMike Duffy trial, where it was suggested that members of the Prime Minister's Office, including his current chief of staff, knew that his former top aide Nigel Wright had personally repaid $90,000 of the senator's expenses.