What is the UK election betting scandal all about? | Election News

As British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Keir Starmer debate their final TV debate on Wednesday night ahead of next week's general election, a gambling scandal that has the potential to be a huge embarrassment for the ruling Conservative Party continues to grow.

On Wednesday it emerged that the Metropolitan Police had taken a more prominent role in the investigation into gambling by senior politicians and civil servants on the upcoming general election.

Amid furious exchanges with the prime minister over plans for taxation, immigration and even transgender rights, Starmer took aim at top Tory figures who are accused of using inside information to place bets before the election date is announced – an instinct to stake the future of the country.

Baroness Ruth Davidson, a senior Conservative figure, said claims that some party officials had bet on the date of the election, which she described as akin to political insider trading, looked set to mark what could be the final days of the Conservative government after 14 turbulent years in power.

First, I mean, how vulgar is it? Speaking on the Sky News Electoral Dysfunction podcast on Friday, Davidson was furious about the allegations now hitting her party, which will be led by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak from 2022.

Speaking at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, Davidson, a former leader of the Scottish Conservative Party, added: “I'm literally speechless. I've been campaigning for over 15 years and I'm literally speechless.

What is the scandal about?

Claims that some Conservative candidates and officials have bet on Britain's July 4 general election date have been growing since it was revealed that Sunak's adviser Craig Williams had placed a 100-pound ($127) bet two weeks ago. . The July vote came just days before Sunak announced the date of the vote to the British public.

So far, five Conservative Party officials have been revealed to be under investigation by the Gambling Commission (GC) over allegations they used insider information to place bets on the July election.

The GC, the body that regulates gambling laws in the UK, is reportedly investigating up to 15 Conservative candidates and civil servants over allegations of betting around election time.

Separately, Conservative Scotland Secretary Alister Jack admitted placing several small bets on election days in March and April, but insisted he had not broken any rules and was not being investigated by the GC.

In a twist on the betting scandal, The Sun newspaper reported on Wednesday that another Conservative, Philip Davis, had bet 8,000 pounds ($10,115) that he would lose his marginal seat of Shipley in West Yorkshire in the upcoming election. Davis told The Sun he expected to lose the seat to Labor, who he predicted would win, adding that it was no one's business if he decided to bet on himself.

Labor was not completely unscathed by the gambling scandal. Kevin Craig was stripped of his candidacy by Labor on Tuesday. It came after it was revealed he was being investigated by the GC over allegations he had bet that his bid to become Member of Parliament for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich would fail in the upcoming election.

Conservative MP Craig Williams, pictured here after winning the Montgomeryshire constituency in the UK general election held in Billswells, Wales on 13 December 2019, was named as one of the first people to be investigated by the Gambling Commission. [File: Rebecca Naden/Reuters]
Are five Conservatives being investigated over betting allegations?

Williams was the first person to be investigated by the Gambling Commission (GC) and was running as a Conservative candidate in the Welsh seat of Montgomeryshire and Glyndre at the time of the investigation.

The 39-year-old admitted he made a huge mistake when he tried to make money by placing a £100 bet at 5-1 odds on election day, meaning he could have won £500 ($633). He did not reveal whether he had inside information about the election before placing the bet, but the betting company he placed it with, Ladbrokes, refused to register the bet after flagging him as a politically exposed person, and the matter was referred to the GC.

Laura Saunders was the second party official to be investigated by the GC while campaigning for the Conservative seat in Bristol North West. Saunders was soon joined by her husband Tony Lee, the Conservative campaign manager, who also took leave after it was revealed he was also under investigation by the GC.

On Tuesday, both Williams and Saunders were disqualified from their party's candidacy, but they are still expected to contest their respective seats, meaning that if elected, they would run as independents in the House.

Nick Mason, the Conservative Party's chief data officer, became the fourth Conservative member to be put in the spotlight at the General Assembly after allegations arose that he had bet on the election on several occasions before Sunnack announced an early voting date.

Russell George, the Conservative member of the Welsh Assembly, became the fifth party leader to be investigated by the General Electoral Commission on Tuesday evening despite not standing for a seat in the general election.

An unnamed police officer who was part of the prime minister's security team was arrested on June 17 on suspicion of making a similar bet. The GC is said to be investigating five more officers.

What are the rules when members of Congress and others use inside information to bet?

Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005 explicitly prohibits gamblers from using inside information (also known as insider trading) to place bets or to provide information to others to place bets on their behalf. You can be sentenced to up to two years in prison.

The Parliamentary Code of Conduct also warns Members of Parliament not to do anything that could cause serious damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons.

Sunnack appeared on a special edition of BBC Question Time on June 20 and said the scandal was a very serious matter and deserved to be properly investigated by relevant law enforcement authorities.

Sunack said he was extremely upset by the claims. He said the integrity of the process must be respected. But what I can tell you is that if someone is found to have broken the rules, not only will they face the full consequences of the law, I will make sure they are kicked out of the Conservative Party.

What does this mean for the Conservative Party's election campaign?

Sunak's Conservative Party was already trailing Labour in the polls before the betting scandal was revealed. A recent Savanta poll for the Telegraph found that two-thirds of voters said they would object to Tory candidates taking bets on election day, potentially damaging the party further.

Moreover, the scandal is just the latest in a long list of controversies to have plagued Britain's ruling Conservative Party in recent years and is a sign of a party that has become obese from complacency during its 14 years in power, said political science professor Tim Bale. from Queen Mary University of London.

As the 19th-century statesman Lord Acton wrote, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Bale said of the Conservative Party’s string of travails: Partygate, the scandal surrounding parties and gatherings held at then Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official residence in Downing Street during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, which broke lockdown rules.

Bale said: After ten years of Labor not seriously opposing them, many Conservatives who have been too comfortable for so long have taken their cue from the top and become accustomed to thinking that, as they say, they will murder with impunity.

He added: But once Labor comes to its senses and voters grow weary of the government's failure to deliver on its basic principles, that era of impunity will never last.

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