Rishi Sunak’s party campaign chief steps aside for insider gambling

LONDON: The campaign chief for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s Conservatives stepped aside two weeks before an election, the party said on Thursday, after reports he and his candidate wife were being investigated for betting on the election date.

The rapidly escalating gambling scandal is the latest misfortune to unfold for Sunak, who is forecast to lose power on July 4 after a campaign characterised by gaffes that followed his surprise announcement of an early vote.

The Conservative Party confirmed that campaign director Tony Lee had taken a leave of absence. The statement followed news reports that the Gambling Commission was looking into allegations of improper betting by Lee and his wife Laura Saunders, a candidate for parliament in Bristol. British bookmakers allow bets on politics, and the timing of an election is a popular bet. But placing bets with insider knowledge is a crime.

Not in the ‘Hunt’?
Meanwhile, British finance minister Jeremy Hunt on Thursday said it would be “very tough” for the Conservatives to win after opinion polls showed a landslide win for the opposition Labour Party.

Asked at a Times newspaper event whether the Conservatives could win the election, Hunt said: “It’s going to be very tough. “I don’t think any of us would pretend that is the most likely outcome. We can certainly do a lot better than the polls are suggesting and we are working very hard to do so.”

A separate poll predicted Sunak could become the first British PM in history to lose his own seat in a national election. Hunt’s seat is also under threat.