Who is Steve Hilton, the Briton who could become California’s next governor?

Steve Hilton speaks outside the Los Angeles county registrar of voters in Norwalk, California, on Tuesday. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

After years of working in the background of Conservative party politics in Britain, Steve Hilton has passed the first major test as his own front man: clinching a spot in the November runoff to become California’s next governor.

The outcome was far from a given under California’s open primary system, which rewards the top two vote winners regardless of party, and the particular challenge of running as a Republican in one of the most solidly blue states in the country.