Tories should be hopeful - Crosby

Mr Crosby is now returning to Australia

The general election result shows the Conservatives are "clearly back in business", says the party's general election strategist.

Lynton Crosby told BBC News there was no "clever gimmick" which could have made the party win.

But he suggested the party could have focused more on immigration.

The Tories caused controversy by hiring Australian Mr Crosby. Labour said he was too negative but he was credited with sharpening the campaign.

'Be confident'

In his first British television interview, Mr Crosby said the Conservatives could be optimistic.

He said: "What the result showed... is that the Conservative party is clearly back in business and clearly engaged with the British people and therefore can have confidence in itself."

Mr Crosby argued it was always going to be difficult to overturn two heavy election defeats.

No one can say they are trying to secretly ... address an issue there were trying to hide from the rest of the voters, Lynton Crosby Tory election strategist

"It takes time for people to understand that you've changed and to fully comprehend what you're on about, and I think a lot of that's been dealt with now," he said.

"That's why the campaign result - although not as good as any of us would have hoped, in one sense, because you always play to win, you don't play to come second - provides the party with a very strong foundation for next time."

Despite criticisms of the campaign, Mr Crosby said the Tories had not put undue emphasis on immigration, which was one of the party's five priorities.

"I think that our position on immigration struck a chord with the British people," he said.

"I think it would have helped, potentially, if we had discussed it further but there is no silver bullet, there is no one issue."

The way Tony Blair had spoken about the Tory priorities since the election was testament to the Tory campaign, he argued.

'Dog whistle' issues

Mr Crosby, who helped Australia's Liberal Party to four successive election victories, was brought in to run the Conservative campaign at a cost to the party of £250,000.

He was criticised for focusing on so-called "dog whistle" issues - sending coded messages to specific groups in issues such as immigration and asylum.

Mr Crosby said the dog whistle claims were "absurd" as people knew what the Tory priorities were.

"No-one can say they are trying to secretly, below the line, through 'phone calls or direct mail letters address an issue there were trying to hide from the rest of the voters," he said.

Kylie comparison

He defended attacks on Mr Blair as a liar with a "smirk" attitude, saying it was different from attacks on Michael Howard's personal characteristics.

He suggested one Labour poster, showing Mr Howard holding a pocket watch, had been anti-Semitic - a charge Labour has repeatedly denied.

Asked if he might return to the UK to help out on the European constitution referendum campaign, he said: "You never say no in life."

In a separate interview with the Spectator magazine, Mr Crosby said the Tories could learn a lot from pop star Kylie Minogue's attitude.

He said the singer "is not a quitter and she never whinges... she knows how to reinvent herself but still be true to herself".