A ‘divisive’ Conservative mayoral campaign will have little impact on the party’s hopes to secure the vacant Tooting seat in this month’s byelection, according to home secretary Theresa May, during a visit on Friday.

The home secretary paid a visit to Tooting’s Business Launchpad, which provides business support to young entrepreneurs, and gave her backing to parliamentary candidate Dan Watkins.

Conservative Zac Goldsmith lost the London mayoral election in May to Sadiq Khan following a campaign which was widely criticised, but Mrs May said this would not affect Mr Watkins’ chances of winning Mr Khan’s former Tooting seat.

She said: “I don’t think that will have much of an impact.

“People will be thinking ‘who do I want to represent me and who is best to represent Tooting’."

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Mr Watkins and Mrs May with Business Launchpad staff and clients

Mr Watkins lost by less than 2,000 votes to Mr Khan in last year’s general election, with 22,421 to the Labour man's 25,263.

Mr Watkins said: “I fought very positive campaigns in my three years here.

“I went head-to-head with Sadiq Khan, and focused on issues like how do young people get on the housing ladder, and how do you make sure this diverse community can live happily side by side.”

Contesting a seat that has long been a Labour stronghold is not a huge worry, according to the Tory parliamentary hopeful.

He said: “The key thing is I have lived here for 15 years; I have a track record of delivering projects on the ground, and fighting campaigns like Cross Rail 2.

“To a large extent it is not about party politics at all.”

Mrs May added: “The question for the people of Tooting is who do they want to represent them in Parliament.

“Dan has lived here for a long time and has this track record in working with local organisations.

“He has set up a grant fund for disadvantaged local entrepreneurs. Something like that can change someone’s life.”

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Lewis Elwin was killed on April 18 in Tooting

20-year-old Lewis Elwin was stabbed to death in Tooting’s Penwortham Road in April, and knife crime remains a serious concern in south London and across the capital.

Mrs May said there were a number of ways in which knife crime needed to be addressed.

She said: “Part of this is around gangs and the Home Office has been proactive with addressing gangs and youth violence.

“Prevention is what we need to look at.

“I think there is something about just getting the message across to young people about how dangerous it is to carry a knife.”

She highlighted the anti-knife campaigning of actress Brooke Kinsella, whose brother Ben was stabbed in 2008, and said schemes and organised activities such as boxing provided important outlets for young people who may otherwise be involved in crime.