Conservative London mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith’s attempt to compare himself to newly crowned Premier League champions Leicester failed in spectacular fashion yesterday when it was pointed out to him that he was more like relegated Aston Villa.

The Tory billionaire is fighting to win tomorrow’s London mayoral election and tried to whip up some last-minute public support by jumping on the Leicester bandwagon, hours after they had done the impossible and clinched their first league title.

Speaking to LBC’s Nick Ferrari, he said: “I’m feeling very good [about the election]. I’m hoping to do a Leicester City here, I’m gonna zoom in from behind and win on May 5.”

Eagle-eyed sports fans on Twitter quickly pointed out that the Foxes had led the league for 14 weeks and for much of the season have been the best team in the league.

The Foxes were true underdogs with bookies pricing them at 5,000/1 to win the league at the start of the season. “Underdog” Goldsmith’s personal wealth is in the region of £300 million.

Ferrari responded by saying: “A look at the polls [say] you’re not Leicester, you’re Aston Villa. You’ve lost,” in reference to the rumoured 20-point gap between himself and Labour candidate Sadiq Khan.

One person on Twitter said: “When Zac Goldsmith says he wants to “do a Leicester” I assume he means “be filmed having a racist orgy,” while another tweeter said: “Hate it when politicians try to get in on the act, Zac you are not Leicester, but maybe you are the Arse in Arsenal.”

The Leicester blunder is just the latest PR stunt to crash and burn for Goldsmith.

Given the shocking race-baiting campaign against Khan, Goldsmith desperately tried to win back some last-minute voters by claiming at the Asian Awards in London last week that he was “a Bollywood fan.” 

This led the interviewer to ask: “You say you’re a Bollywood fan — do you have a favourite actor, a favourite film?” 

Goldsmith, clearly flustered and caught out, responded:“Let me think… No I’m not going to give you one. I can’t think of a favourite.”

“You can’t think of a single Bollywood film or actor?” the journalist asks. 

An increasingly flustered Mr Goldsmith replies: “I can’t think of a favourite. I love almost everything about Bollywood.”