Python if-statement with variable mathematical operator

I'm trying to insert a variable mathematical operator into a if statement, an example of what I'm trying to achieve in parsing user-supplied mathematical expressions:

maths_operator = "=="

if "test" maths_operator "test":
       print "match found"

maths_operator = "!="

if "test" maths_operator "test":
       print "match found"
else:
       print "match not found"

obviously the above fails with SyntaxError: invalid syntax. I've tried using exec and eval but neither work in an if statement, what options do I have to get around this?