Rishi Sunak tonight vowed that any Tories found to have broken gambling rules by betting on the election date would be ‘booted out’ the party.
The under-pressure PM made the vow tonight as he faced increasing pressure to act over a growing scandal casting a long shadow over the tail end of the campaign.
A string of Conservatives have been revealed to be under investigation by the Gambling Commission amid claims about wagers placed on a July poll.
They include Tory chief data officer Nick Mason, director of campaigning Tony Lee, Mr Lee’s wife and parliamentary candidate Laura Saunders, and Craig Williams – also an election candidate and a close aide to the Prime Minister.
One of Mr Sunak’s police protection officers has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office and is also subject to an investigation by the regulator.
Appearing at a Sun newspaper hustings tonight Mr Sunak vowed he would ‘not hesitate to act’ after being asked why he had yet to suspend any of the party figures involved.
The under-pressure PM made the vow tonight as he faced increasing pressure to act over a growing scandal casting a long shadow over the tail end of the campaign.
The PM also confirmed the Conservative Party were carrying out their own probe into the alleged betting scandal
The Prime Minister said: ‘I was incredibly angry, incredibly angry when I learned about the [betting} allegations, as everybody would be when they would hear about something like that.’
He added: ‘I’m incredibly angry about this and the right thing to do, and again you talked about that letter, to do things properly, is to get to the bottom of what happened, to investigate things thoroughly.
‘Now we have to do that separately to the Gambling Commission, who don’t report to me. I don’t have the details of their investigation. We have to do that sensitively and carefully so that we don’t compromise the integrity of a police and other investigations.
‘But let me be clear, if we come across findings or information that warrants it, we will not hesitate to act, I have been crystal clear that I will hold people to account, whoever they are.’
Mr Sunak faced fresh questions over the row after a senior Tory admitted the party is set to suffer at the general election due to the scandal.
Tobias Ellwood, a former defence minister, said there was ‘no doubt’ the row over alleged bets on the date of the election would cost the Tories seats.
The PM is under growing pressure over the betting row, with Mr Ellwood saying voters wanted to see ‘clear robust action now’.
He also demanded politicians or party employees be banned from placing any political bets.
Speaking in Edinburgh this morning, Mr Sunak told journalists that the Tories were conducting their own parallel inquiry.
But he added: ‘What I can tell you is I am not aware of any other candidate that they are looking at.’
Mr Sunak also confirmed the Conservative Party were carrying out their own probe into the alleged betting scandal.
And, asked if he had ever bet on politics while being an MP, the PM replied: ‘No.’
He said: ‘The Gambling Commission is independent of Government – it’s independent of me.
‘I don’t have the details of their investigation, right? They don’t report to me, I don’t have the details.
‘But what I can tell you is, in parallel we’ve been conducting our own internal inquiries and of course will act on any relevant findings or information from that and pass it on to the Gambling Commission.’
A senior Tory has admitted the party are set to suffer at the general election due to the betting scandal that has engulfed Mr Sunak
Tobias Ellwood, a former defence minister, said there was ‘no doubt’ the row over alleged bets on the date of the election would cost the Tories seats
Mr Sunak also faced difficult questions from the public, including from a woman whose father died from cancer after waiting 18 months for treatment.
Audience member Fliss said her family went through ’18 months of hell’ when her father, who died six weeks ago, was diagnosed with cancer.
She said they waited nine months for a diagnosis, then another nine months for metastatic diagnosis and that her father died before he got it.
‘I believe the NHS is broken,’ Fliss said, and asked the Prime Minister what he would do to stop others suffering this way.
Mr Sunak said the Government was hiring more oncologists and introducing new forms of testing, but added that ‘fundamentally what happened to you and your family isn’t acceptable and I can only apologise’.
Tory candidate Laura Saunders and her husband Tony Lee, the Conservatives’ director of campaigning, are caught up in allegations about betting on the timing of the election
Craig Williams, also an election candidate and a close aide to the Prime Minister, is among those being probed by the Gambling Commission
The marginal seats where voting Conservative will help slash any Labour majority
