One of Rishi Sunak’s close parliamentary aides is being investigated after putting a £100 bet on the election being held in July, just days before the PM announced the July 4 vote.
Craig Williams, the Prime Minister’s parliamentary private secretary, is being probed by the Gambling Commission over his 5-1 ‘flutter’ in May.
The Tory candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr said he would co-operate with the commission over what he said were ‘routine inquiries’.
‘I put a flutter on the General Election some weeks ago. This has resulted in some routine inquiries and I confirm I will fully cooperate with these. I don’t want it to be a distraction from the campaign. I should have thought through how it looks,’ he wrote in a statement on X.
The Guardian reported Mr Williams placed a £100 with Ladbrokes from within Montgomeryshire on May 19, backing a July election.
On May 22 Mr Sunak announced July 4 would be the date of the vote, outside No10. That would have landed Mr Williams £500. Ladbrokes raised the bet with the GC, which reportedly told No10 last week.
In a statement to the Guardian it said using ‘confidential information in order to gain an unfair advantage when betting … may constitute an offence of cheating under section 42 of the Gambling Act, which is a criminal offence.’
Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow paymaster general, said: ‘These allegations are utterly extraordinary. Rishi Sunak has sat on this information for more than a week but has lacked any backbone to take action. Once again Rishi Sunak has been exposed as utterly weak.’
A Conservative Party spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of contact between a Conservative candidate and the Gambling Commission. It is a personal matter for the individual in question.
‘As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn’t be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded.’