Scandal Rocks Conservatives
The UK General Election is scheduled for July 4th. In a dramatic turn of events, the race for Number 10 has been overshadowed by a betting scandal that has rocked the Conservative party in the last two weeks.
The revelation that Craig Williams, a key aide to Rishi Sunak, and Laura Saunders, a member of the Prime Minister's inner circle, had placed bets on the election date before its announcement, has led to the Conservative Party's decision to withdraw support for both candidates. The decision, while widely supported, has raised questions about its timing.
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U-Turn
The party's announcement that the candidates had been dropped comes after a week of intense media pressure. The party had previously announced it would stand by the two candidates, only to announce on Tuesday, June 25th, that it would be withdrawing its support.
While the exact details of the bet, a source of much speculation, have not been publicly shared, it is believed that Craig Williams, a parliamentary private secretary to Rishi Sunak, and the candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, and Laura Saunders, the candidate for Bristol North West and wife of Conservatives’ head of campaigning, Tony Lee had placed bets on the date of the election.
The markets for the next date of the election are always popular future markets for punters to bet on, with most bookies favouring an Autumn election ahead of Sunak’s surprise announcement in May. This suggests that the two candidates may have got generous odds, though this information is not widely known now.
Ongoing Investigation
Rishi Sunak, the leader of the Conservative Party, had been asked publicly about his take on the scandal. Sunak said that he would not comment while the Gambling Commission was still investigating the issue.
A spokesman for the Conservative Party said “As a result of ongoing internal enquiries, we have concluded that we can no longer support Craig Williams or Laura Saunders as Parliamentary Candidates at the forthcoming General Election.
“We have checked with the Gambling Commission that this decision does not compromise the investigation that they are conducting, which is rightly independent and ongoing.” The Gambling Commission has not issued a statement since support was withdrawn.
Reaction to the withdrawn support online was focused on the delay in taking action, with former Tory Cabinet Minister, Lord Forst tweeting, ‘Why did it take so long?’
