Gambling watchdog looks into second Tory candidate over alleged election bet

The Gambling Commission is looking into a second Conservative candidate over an alleged bet on the timing of the general election.

Laura Saunders, the party’s candidate in Bristol North West, is married to Tony Lee, the Conservative party’s director of campaigns.

Lee took leave of absence on Wednesday.

A Conservative spokesperson said: “The director of campaigning took a leave of absence from CCHQ yesterday.”

Minutes later the BBC reported that Lee was also being looked into by the commission.

It is not known how much money was allegedly staked or whether any bet was made personally.

Last week the Guardian revealed that Rishi Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide, Craig Williams, placed a £100 bet with Ladbrokes at 5/1 on a July poll, three days before the prime minister announced the date.

Williams, 39, is the Tory candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr in mid-Wales. He had a majority of 12,000 before the boundary change.

In the wake of the revelation the Guardian also revealed that the Gambling Commission asked bookmakers to trawl through all substantial bets placed on a July election.

The watchdog wrote to all licensed bookmakers requesting information on anyone who stood to gain more than £199 by betting on a July election in the UK.

A Conservative party spokesperson told the BBC: “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.”

Keir Starmer called for the Conservatives to suspend Saunders. “This candidate should be suspended and it’s very telling that Rishi Sunak has not already done that.
“If it was one of my candidates, they’d be gone and their feet would not have touched the floor.”

Separately, one of Rishi Sunak’s close protection officers has been arrested over alleged bets about the timing of the election.

The officer was arrested on Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office, the Metropolitan police said.

The Metropolitan police said they were contacted last Friday by the Gambling Commission, which informed the force that it was looking into alleged bets related to the timing of an election by a constable from the Met’s royalty and specialist protection command.

“The matter was immediately referred to officers in the Met’s directorate of professional standards, who opened an investigation, and the officer was also removed from operational duties,” the force said.

The matter has also been referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), the watchdog responsible for overseeing the system for handling complaints made against police forces in England and Wales.

The Met added: “The Gambling Commission continues to lead the investigation into the alleged betting offences, and our investigation is running in parallel to that.”

Labour’s campaign chief, Pat McFadden, has written to Sunak urging the Conservatives to withdraw support from Saunders and Williams while they are being looked into.

In a letter to the prime minister, McFadden said: “Can I ask you very simply why you think that a serving police officer should be suspended from his role, because of allegations that he made a bet based on inside information, while the two colleagues of yours who so far stand accused of the same offence – Craig Williams, your PPS, and Laura Saunders, a member of your CCHQ staff and partner of your campaigns director – are still being allowed to stand as Tory candidates in the election on 4 July?.”

He added: “This looks as though there is one rule for members of the Tory party, and another rule for everyone else, specifically on this occasion a serving police officer.”

McFadden said if it emerged that Williams, Saunders and any other candidate had placed bets on the timing of the election they should be suspended.