Sunak accused of election betting

Three days ago, his parliamentary secretary Rishi Sunak announced the election date Craig WilliamsThe candidate for Glyndŵr in Wales bet 100 pounds (118 euros) at Ladbrokes that it would be July 4. Most British people and Conservative representatives thought at the time that the appointment with the election would take place in the autumn, but Williams allegedly used “inside” information.

Williams publicly apologised for a “gross error in judgement”, but it has now been revealed that at least one other “Tory” candidate, laura sandersmade the same bet for the 4th of July and allegedly took advantage of her status as the wife of Tony LeeThe Conservative Party’s campaign director, who decided to step aside from his post on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Scotland Yard arrested one of Sunak’s bodyguards, who is also accused of betting on the day of the election. The Gaming Commission has taken action on the matter and is investigating all of them. He received more than 235 euros For a change in betting on 4th July.

“Betgate” suddenly became the “hot potato” of the “premiership” campaign, marked by furore over the days of new election debates on the BBC against the major parties’ candidates.

Labor leader keir starmer He took the opportunity to call on Sunak to suspend the Tory candidates involved in the scandal. Starmer declared: “If they were my party’s candidates, their feet wouldn’t even touch the ground.” “We are facing a case of self-acquired privilege. “The underlying issue is 14 years of chaos and division among the Tories.”

With two weeks left before the election and the polls turning against him, Sunak once again finds himself on the defensive. The latest YouGov poll gives this 39% vote for Labor22% to the Conservatives and 15% to Reform UK. Labour populist leader could win a majority of up to 200 deputies Nigel Farraz Will enter Westminster with at least five seats and several Sunak ministers, including the Treasury secretary Jeremy Hunt and ambitious heir Penny Mordaunt, They might be out of the game.

In any case, the vote displaced voting for a day. It is estimated that 44% of Britons gamble at some point in their livesMany of them do it regularly every month and one in four falls into the “at risk” group for addiction.

Little is known about the gambling history of Craig Williams, Sunak’s parliamentary secretary until the dissolution of the House of Commons two weeks ago. The Gaming Commission is investigating his actions and it cannot be ruled out that he could be forced to abandon his candidacy.

On Thursday, all the headlines were pointing to another candidate, Laura Saundersidentified by the BBC as another alleged figure involved in “Betgate”. The scandal has reached the doorstep of her husband Tony Lee, the Conservative Party’s campaign director, who has decided to take a “holiday” for the remainder of the week.

Labor campaign manager Pat McFaddenhas meanwhile written a very personal letter to Sunak reminding him of the exemplary suspension of his bodyguard after he was embroiled in a scandal: “If a police officer is suspended from duty for betting with confidential information, why are two candidates accused of the same offence allowed to take part in the July 4 election?”

McFadden reminded the “Premiere” that The underlying issue is the same that triggered “Partygate” which forced Boris Johnson to resign: “It seems as if there are some rules for members of the Conservative Party and other rules for everybody else.”

Rishi Sunak has admitted to being “incredibly angry” at the alleged involvement of at least two Tory candidates in the election betting scandal. Sunak warned he was prepared to take action “if it is proven they have broken the rules of the game”, but he refrained from commenting on whether the two candidates, Laura Sanders and Craig Williams, should resign from the election race.

Amid new accusations of “lack of ethics” against the Conservatives, the betting scandal became one of the major topics of the candidates’ appearance before a panel of citizens.