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Spike in bets on day before Rishi Sunak called election prompts probe of PM’s campaign
By Rob Harris
London: The Conservatives’ UK election campaign has been further engulfed in scandal after a senior figure took a leave of absence as part of a widening investigation over alleged bets on the date of the general election.
Amid a deepening crisis over potentially illegal bets, four individuals with links to the inner-sanctum of Rishi Sunak’s struggling campaign have now faced questioning over what authorities believe was an unusual burst of betting on a July 4 poll which preceded the prime minister’s announcement.
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the pub.Credit: Getty Images
The party confirmed that Tony Lee, the director of campaigning, had taken a leave of absence after his wife, Laura Saunders, become the second Tory candidate investigated for allegedly betting on an early election being called.
Craig Williams, Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide and also a candidate, last week acknowledged he had bet £100 on May 19 at odds of £6 that the election would be in July, at a time when it was not expected before the autumn. Sunak made his surprise announcement of a July 4 election on May 22.
Analysis of data provided by bookmakers in several British media outlets showed that almost all the wagers on a July poll – totalling thousands of pounds – were made in a few hours on May 21.
During a BBC debate on Thursday evening (UK time), Sunak said he was “incredibly angry” to learn of the allegations about betting on the election date, saying it’s a “really serious matter”.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.Credit: AP
“I want to be crystal clear anyone who has broken rules should face the full force of the law,” he said.
Separately, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Thursday an officer assigned to Downing Street’s close personal protection unit was arrested on Monday over alleged bets “related to the timing of the general election”.
The allegations are another hammer blow for the 14-year-old government that polls predict is facing a catastrophic defeat on July 4. A new poll published by The Telegraph suggested Sunak is on track to become the first sitting British prime minister to lose their seat at a general election.
The officer, who has not been named, was immediately removed from operational duties and referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Police said he was taken into custody and bailed “pending further inquiries”.
Saunders, who is standing in Bristol North West, was reported by the BBC to be the subject of an inquiry by the Gambling Commission. She has worked for the party since 2015. Neither Lee nor Saunders have commented.
Lee’s position a director of campaigns is separate to the Tory’s campaign director, a post held by Australian Isaac Levido, who is responsible for running the general election campaign. Lee is understood to have a more minor role running local campaigns.
A UK betting shop.Credit: Bloomberg
The timing of the election was a tightly held secret, with only a dozen people in Downing Street and Conservative headquarters believed to have been made aware of the planned date. It included Sunak’s aides, senior campaign staff, police and civil servants.
The broadcaster said Saunders worked most recently in the party’s international division – a department of Conservative Party campaign headquarters that liaises with foreign centre-right parties. It is not known when the alleged bet was placed or for how much money.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We have been contacted by the Gambling Commission about a small number of individuals. As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn’t be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded”.
Williams, who remains the Conservative candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr in Wales, admitted laying his bet last week but insisted the Gambling Commission’s investigation of the matter amounted to “some routine inquiries” with which he would “fully co-operate”.
Speaking on the campaign trail, retiring Tory frontbencher Michael Gove told journalists that “obviously, it doesn’t look great”.
“And obviously the conclusions lots of people are drawing are not at all great,” he said. “But I don’t know all the facts at the moment. I’d be loath to condemn without there being an investigation that’s been concluded.
Several published opinion polls in the past week have predicted a wipeout for the Conservatives next month.
Analysis by Savanta and Electoral Calculus for The Telegraph showed Labour could win 516 MPs, which would hand Sir Keir Starmer a colossal 382-seat majority – far outstripping Tony Blair’s majority in his 1997 and 2001 landslides.
It forecast the Conservatives could slump to as few as 53 seats, down from 365 in the 2019 election, while the Liberal Democrats could climb to 50 seats, up from 11, to rival the Tories as the leading opposition party.
It also forecast that Sunak would lose his seat of Richmond and Northallerton in North Yorkshire – which would be the first time a sitting prime minister was ousted at the polls. He won a 27,210 majority at the last election before a boundary review altered the make-up of his constituency.
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