- Five people with links to British Chancellor Rishi Sunak are under investigation following reports they placed bets on the July 4 election before that date was announced.
- There have been growing calls for Mr Sunak to suspend his party’s figures, which are being investigated by the Gambling Commission.
- Using confidential information to gain an unfair advantage when gambling can be a criminal offence in the UK under Section 42 of the Gambling Act.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak speaks during BBC’s Question Time Leaders Special in York, England, 20 June 2024.
By Stephane Rousseau | via Reuters
LONDON — Britain’s ruling Conservative Party is embroiled in a scandal over allegations that senior officials used inside information to win bets on the date of the general election.
Five People Individuals linked to British Chancellor Rishi Sunak are under investigation for allegedly placing bets on the date of the July 4th election before Sunak announced it on May 22nd.
The Conservative Party’s chief data officer, Nick Mason, is the latest senior Conservative leader to be investigated by the Gambling Commission, according to a report in the Sunday Times. Mason is on administrative leave and a spokesman has denied any wrongdoing, the paper reported. CNBC could not immediately confirm this, and the Conservative Party has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Craig Williams, the Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire and a close aide to the Prime Minister, was the first to be questioned about the election day bet, admitting in a statement from X that he had “placed a bet on the general election a few weeks ago.”
“This has resulted in several routine investigations which I am committed to cooperating fully with. I do not want to disrupt the campaign. I should have thought carefully about how that would look,” Williams added.
The Conservative Party’s campaign manager, Tony Lee, and his wife, Laura Sanders, the party’s candidate in Bristol North West, are also being investigated by the Gambling Commission.
The Independent said Lee is on administrative leave and that a lawyer for Sanders told the paper he intends to cooperate with the Gambling Commission and has nothing further to add. Sanders and Lee have not yet responded to CNBC’s request for comment.
Finally, one of Mr Sunak’s police bodyguards was arrested on 17 June on suspicion of official misconduct. The Metropolitan Police was contacted by the Gambling Commission about allegations that officers engaged in gambling activities on polling day in July.
London police said in a statement that the officer had been removed from duty and the matter had been referred to the Metropolitan police’s Professional Standards Office and the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The scandal comes amid falling support for the Conservative party, with recent polls suggesting Mr Sunak could become the first prime minister to lose his seat in a general election, and growing calls for him to suspend senior party officials under investigation by the Gambling Commission.
“It’s very significant that Rishi Sunak hasn’t done it yet,” Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, which is the favourite to win the next general election, told reporters last week. “If it was one of my candidates, they’d be out there by now, with their feet on the ground.”
Mr Sunak declined to comment on whether those involved in the scandal should be suspended. He said he was “incredibly angry” at a BBC televised election event last week.
“All I can say is that if anyone is found to have broken the rules they will not only face the full penalty of the law but will be expelled from the Conservative party,” Sunak told the audience. Sunak told reporters on Monday that he and his family were not placing bets on the timing of the election.
Michael Gove, the outgoing Conservative MP and secretary of state for inequality, housing and communities, told the Sunday Times that the gambling scandal was as damaging to the Conservative party as the “Partygate” scandal during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“If he used inside information to place bets then that is deeply wrong,” Mr Gove told BBC News, adding that his behaviour was “reprehensible”.“
Using confidential information to gain an unfair advantage when gambling can be a criminal offence in the UK under Section 42 of the Gambling Act.
The Gambling Commission is investigating “potential unlawful activity relating to Election Day,” a spokesperson for the industry regulator said in an emailed statement, adding that the commission could not confirm the identities of individuals involved in the ongoing investigation.
Pat McFadden, the Labour candidate for Wolverhampton South East, called on the Gambling Commission to publish “the names of any other individuals who are being investigated in relation to this matter”.
“I am deeply concerned by this ongoing speculation that is casting a shadow over our election, and the public should be rightly appalled that someone involved in determining the outcome of an election would use inside information to bet on an outcome that is known in advance,” McFadden wrote in a letter to the committee.
