Election latest: 'I certainly haven't bet myself' says minister as scandal engulfs Tory campaign (2024)

By Alix Culbertson, political reporter

The Gambling Commission has said it is looking into allegations around bets made on the date of the election.

The commission is looking into Laura Saunders, the Conservative candidate for Bristol North West.

It comes after Rishi Sunak's close parliamentary aide Craig Williams, the Tory candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, was revealed to have placed a bet on a July election date three days before it was announced.

And the prime minister's close protection officer has been arrested and suspended over alleged bets about the timing of the election.

There are strict rules around gambling, with the latest laws updated in the Gambling Act 2005.

Gamblers are not allowed to use inside information to place a bet or to instruct someone else to do so on their behalf.

They are also not allowed to pass inside information on to someone else which they use for betting.

Section 42 of the act deals with cheating and says a person commits an offence if they cheat at gambling or do "anything for the purpose of enabling or assisting another person to cheat at gambling".

It adds: "It is immaterial whether a person who cheats improves his changes of winning anything, or wins anything."

Someone found guilty of cheating can be imprisoned for a maximum of two years and/or fined, or six months in prison for a lesser offence.

Norman Phillips and his wife Ros – who lives with multiple sclerosis and dementia - are the human faces of the social care crisis.

Initially Norman was able to combine work with his caring responsibilities but as Ros's condition worsened, he took early retirement.

The couple found help hard to come by and after Norman suffered an injury, they were forced to sell their home to settle care-related debts.

Ros is now subject to an NHS continuing healthcare plan after Norman suffered a breakdown earlier this year and authorities decided he was unable to carry on caring for his wife.

This includes round the clock care for Ros – something Norman says wouldn't have been needed if a lower level of help had been made available earlier.

He said: "They've got six million of us unpaid carers. If they… help us, we can help the system.

"But what's happened to me, you know, is the system just kept backing away and backing away until I cracked."

Read political correspondent Rob Powell's full report below.

Our deputy political editor Sam Coates and Politico's Jack Blanchard are back with their guide to the election day ahead.

This is day 30 of the campaign. Jack and Sam discuss the betting scandal clouding the Tory campaign, last night's Question Time and Labour's Rachel Reeves opening up.

👉Tap here to follow Politics at Jack and Sam's wherever you get your podcasts👈

David TC Davies, the Welsh secretary, has been on Sky News this morning, and he said he wanted to "put on record" he did not bet on the date of the election as a gambling scandal engulfs the Tory campaign.

He said it was "totally unacceptable" if people were found to have broken the rules and such individuals should be "kicked out of the Conservative Party".

Allegations of "insider trading" threatened to overshadow the launch of the Welsh Conservative manifesto later today, which Mr Sunak is attending.

The prime minister has said he is "incredibly angry" about the accusations and that any wrongdoers "should face the full force of the law".

Conservative candidate Laura Saunders said she "will be co-operating with the Gambling Commission" probe, while her husband, the Tories' director of campaigning, Tony Lee, took a leave of absence amid reports the couple were being investigated by the gambling regulator.

It came after the arrest of one of the prime minister's police protection officers and the previous revelation of a Gambling Commission investigation into his parliamentary aide, Craig Williams.

Labour and the Lib Dems have called on the Tories to suspend both Ms Saunders and Mr Williams, who is standing in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr.

Mr Davies said: "I just want to put on record that I certainly haven't bet myself, I haven't made any bets on anything for many years.

"I didn't know the election was coming until probably the morning... and I've no idea who - if anyone - has placed any bets and what further investigation is going on.

"What I will say, I will repeat the prime minister's words - it's totally unacceptable if people have broken the rules in any way.

"There is an investigation going on by the Gambling Commission and I welcome that, and anyone who is found to have broken the rules will be kicked out of the Conservative Party."

Pressed over former Tory minister Chris Skidmore saying he will vote Labour because of Mr Sunak's approach to net zero, Mr Davies said he was "not in the least bit bothered about it".

He said: "I know that Chris has become a bit, you know, distracted because of the work he's doing for the renewable industry, I believe.

"So, perhaps that’s also impacted on his political views now he's become much more interested in working in industry."

The Conservative Party is seen as "tawdry", Ruth Davidson has said, as two of its candidates are being investigated over alleged bets placed on the election date.

The Gambling Commission islooking into two Tory candidates over alleged wagerson the date of the 4 July election.

An industry source has told Sky News that "more names" are being looked into, but police are so far "not involved".

Speaking on theElectoral Dysfunctionpodcast with Sky News political editor Beth Rigby, and former broadcaster and presenter Carol Vorderman, the former leader of the Scottish Tories waded into the fallout of the alleged betting scandal.

"What an absolute sh*t show. Firstly, I mean, how tawdry is it?" she said.

She described it as akin to "insider trading" and criticised Rishi Sunak's response, saying he had repeatedly failed to get out in front and take control of events.

Read more below and...👉 click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts👈

It's the morning after the night before on the Politics Hub with Rishi Sunak nursing a metaphorical hangover after a bruising TV encounter with voters.

And there is no let up for the embattled prime minister as he is set to face further questions over the betting scandal that has engulfed his party's floundering campaign.

Adding to his woes, former leader of the Scottish Tories and Conservative peer Ruth Davidson has waded into the row, telling theElectoral Dysfunctionpodcast that it is an "absolute sh*t show" and "tawdry".

Hardly the ringing endorsem*nt from one of your own as the clock ticks down to election day.

Despite the dismal poll ratings predicting the worst Tory electoral result ever, Mr Sunak insisted he had chosen the "right moment" to call the 4 July poll.

Mr Sunak will be seeking to regain the initiative as he hits the election trail in Wales,ramping up warnings about handing Labour "a blank cheque" at the election.

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer is heading to Scotland in a bid to build on his party's resurgence after claiming Jeremy Corbyn would have been a better prime minister than Boris Johnson.

The Labour leader will pledge a new industrial strategy north of the border will create 69,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey is touting for support in Yorkshire and Norfolk as he continues his electoral efforts to scoop up traditional Tory strongholds.

He also faced tough questions at the BBC event where he was challenged over his party ditching their pledge to scrap tuition fees in the coalition government and his role as postal affairs minister in the light of the IT scandal.

Thank you for following our political coverage throughout the day.

Please see our 10pm bulletin for the key points from an evening of tough questions for the leaders of the four major parties in the UK.

Join us again tomorrow morning for the latest updates.

It's been a busy evening in the Politics Hub.

We've had the prime minister enduring shouts of "shame" during a special edition of the BBC's Question Time, which also saw Sir Keir Starmer, John Swinney and Sir Ed Davey face audience questions.

Here are the main things you need to know this evening:

• Rishi Sunakfaced shouts of "shame" when he attacked the European Convention on Human Rights as a "foreign court";
• The prime minister said he was "incredibly angry" about allegations of betting on the date of the election;
• Sir Keir Starmersaid he was "genuinely worried" about right-wing tendencies across Europe;
• Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey confessed he was "not proud" of some of the things the party did during its time in coalition with the Conservatives;
• And the SNP's John Swinney admitted he may have contributed to a politics of polarisation but said he will keep pursuing independence.

• Before all of that, the Greens co-leader Adrian Ramsaytold Sophy Ridgehe rejected comparisons with Liz Truss for proposing to borrow COVID levels of money to fund his party's manifesto;
• But back to the betting scandal engulfing the Conservative party...
• Laura Saunders, the Tory candidatefacing a probe over allegedly betting on the timing of the election, has said she "will be cooperating with the Gambling Commission" investigation but is "considering legal action";
• Ms Saunders is married toTony Lee- the Conservative director of campaigns - with reports that he as well faces a probe after going on leave from CCHQ;
• The Gambling Commission has said it's considering launching an investigation into a "small number of people";
• Sky News understands more names are set to emerge- this graph shows a huge surge in bets placed on the day before Mr Sunak made his announcement:
  

• Elsewhere, Northern Ireland's Alliance Party has published its general election manifesto, featuring reform of Stormont's devolved structures as a key objective;
• And the Scottish Greens have launched their manifesto too, outlining plans for a wealth tax on the richest people in the UK.

By Megan Harwood-Baynes, digital investigations reporter

A Conservative attack ad featuring Sadiq Khan has been pulled from the party's platforms after just one day.

The advert, which ran across the Meta sites Facebook and Instagram, said: "Sadiq Khan wants to divide us", while warning voters "don't let Sadiq Khan win again".

It encouraged voters to vote for them and not Reform. It ran for one day on 19 June.

Mr Khan ran for mayor of London back in May, clinching a historic third term by a comfortable 276,000 votes over Tory rival Susan Hall. He is not running for election again on 4 July.

Sky News reached out to the Conservatives to ask why they were running an attack ad against Mr Khan - and why it had been taken down - they did not respond with a comment.

It comes as an exclusive poll for Sky News and YouGov shows the Conservative party is on track for a near wipeout, with Labour predicted to take 425 seats - including almost all in London. Reform are projected to return five MPs.

The online advert was viewed by up to 35,000 accounts, and cost the party up to £499 to run. The largest audience for it was over 45s.

Rishi Sunak suddenly becomes animated when he's asked why he called the election for 4 July (see previous post).

He defends his campaign against Liz Truss and claims Labour's plans would be as damaging as hers.

We're getting some raw politics now from the PM with the inevitable tax attack on Labour. Apart from his tough words on Tory betting, it's the most punchy he's been in his half hour.

He's also punchy with a young questioner who says leaving the European Convention on Human Rights would be inhumane.

But he's unconvincing when Fiona Bruce asks why he calls the European court a "foreign court" when it was set up by countries including Britain and has a British judge.

And it gets worse. The audience shouts "shame!" when he attacks the "foreign court" again.

That sort of talk may play well with Tory activists and voters flirting with Reform UK, but it went down very badly here.

It was a bad ending for the PM at the end of his half-hour and the two-hour election programme.