THE Australian mastermind behind the Conservative victory in this month's British general election has delivered a stinging rebuke to commentators who failed to see the result coming and urged a ban on polls in the final stages of campaigns.

LYNTON Crosby says wealthy Westminster-based pundits who only come into contact with ordinary people when they "picked up their dry cleaning" had been "talking to themselves".

Originally published asCrosby urges ban on UK election polls