The Conservative Party has withdrawn support for two parliamentary candidates currently under investigation for allegedly making bets on the date of the general election. This move marks a notable U-turn after the party initially stood by the candidates.
The candidates in question are Craig Williams, a parliamentary private secretary to Rishi Sunak standing in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, and Laura Saunders, the candidate for Bristol North West.
Saunders is married to Tony Lee, the Conservatives’ head of campaigning, who has since taken a leave of absence.
As a result of this decision, the campaigns of Williams and Saunders will no longer receive party support, and they would be denied the Conservative whip if they were to win their seats.
However, their party memberships have not been suspended, as the Gambling Commission’s investigation remains ongoing.
A party spokesperson explained the decision.
“As a result of ongoing internal inquiries, 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.”
Conservative Party spokesperson
This decision represents Prime Minister Sunak’s latest effort to mitigate the impact of the gambling scandal that has plagued his campaign for the past two weeks.
The controversy started when it was disclosed that one of the Prime Minister’s personal protection officers had been arrested by Metropolitan (Met) Police and questioned over alleged bets on the timing of the general election, using information obtained through their role.
Following this development, the Met Police received further information from the Gambling Commission suggesting that additional police officers might have placed similar bets.
Currently, four Conservative politicians and officials are alleged to have been involved in these betting activities and are under investigation by the commission. This has prompted further scrutiny to determine whether more Met Police officers might be implicated.
The commission continues to analyze data and information related to potentially suspicious bets on the election dates.
A Met Police source indicated that it remains unclear how many officers might be involved in these new inquiries. The police stated, “We continue to liaise with the Gambling Commission and are assessing the information they have provided.”
Met Police Denies Allegations About Leaked Information
In response to claims published in a newspaper, purportedly from a Conservative source, that the force leaked details about the Gambling Commission’s inquiry into the party, senior Metropolitan Police officers expressed strong disapproval.
A spokesperson for the Met stated, “The allegations that the Met has leaked information are simply untrue.” Another source within the force criticized the allegations as a “poor distraction technique.”
The Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, Andrew Rhodes, addressed the issue of confidentiality in a letter to Pat McFadden, Labour’s national campaign coordinator.
Rhodes clarified that while the commission has requested those it has contacted to keep the matter confidential, this does not preclude other related activities.
The Gambling Commission’s investigation focuses on the use of confidential information to place bets, which could constitute cheating, a criminal offense under section 42 of the 2005 Gambling Act.
This legislation stipulates that a person is guilty of cheating at gambling if they “do anything for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to cheat at gambling.”
The penalties for such offenses include fines or a maximum of two years imprisonment. The law also states that it is irrelevant whether the cheating individual improves their chances of winning or actually wins anything.
As such, the Conservative Party faces ongoing challenges in addressing the fallout from this scandal, which continues to attract significant public and media attention.
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