TOXIC spin doctor Lynton Crosby will be knighted for “services to politics” today after running a "racist" Tory election campaign.

The infamous Australian will be presented with his gong by one of the Windsors at a lavish investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, the Royal Household told the Morning Star. 

His inclusion in the New Year’s Honours list was already hugely controversial and saw Prime Minister David Cameron accused of further “degrading” the patronage system. 

But the timing of the ceremony — just hours before the results of the London mayoral election are revealed — will incense those smeared in Mr Crosby’s campaign for multimillionaire Zac Goldsmith.

Mr Crosby masterminded attempts to reverse the Tories' poll deficit by linking Labour candidate Sadiq Khan with Islamic extremists. 

His tactics were branded “dog whistle” racism by Hope Not Hate and were also condemned by former Tory chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused David Cameron of attempting to “smear” Mr Khan at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.

And shadow Commons leader Chris Bryant said yesterday that it showed “there ain’t no gutter low enough for the Prime Minister to slop around in."

“That kind of despicable smearing of one’s opponents degrades the whole of politics,” he told MPs.

“And I would just say gently to the government that those who live by the gutter, die by the gutter.

“I’m absolutely certain that that kind of politics is not welcomed by the British public.”

Socialist film-maker Ken Loach, who turned down an OBE in 1997, told the Star: “What a joke. The man who plans the squalid tricks to get Tories elected is to be honoured by a Tory PM. What’s new?

“Lynton Crosby will find plenty of his cronies in the same club already — ‘Sir’ Philip Green for example, the epitome of corporate greed.

"Maybe we should have a People's Honours list where we reward those unknown comrades who fight against injustice and privilege not those who promote it."