UK election betting scandal widens as fourth Conservative Party official reportedly investigated

The chief data officer of Britain’s Conservative Party has taken a leave of absence, British media reported on Sunday, following growing allegations the governing party’s members used inside information to bet on the date of Britain’s July 4 national election before it was announced.

The Sunday Times and others reported that Nick Mason is the fourth Conservative official to be investigated by the UK’s Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the timing of the election.

The Times alleged dozens of bets had been placed with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds.

The reports came after revelations in recent days that two Conservative election candidates, Laura Saunders and Craig Williams, are under investigation by the gambling watchdog. Saunders’ husband, Tony Lee, the Conservative director of campaigning, has also taken a leave of absence after allegations he, too, was investigated over alleged betting.

Police said one of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s police bodyguards was arrested last Monday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The arrest came after the gambling regulator confirmed it was investigating “the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election”.

The growing scandal, only two weeks before the national election, has dealt a fresh blow to Sunak’s Conservative Party, which is widely expected to lose to the opposition Labour Party after 14 years in power.

Sunak said last week he was “incredibly angry” to learn of the allegations and that anyone found to have broken the law should be expelled from his party.

Sunak announced on May 22 that parliamentary elections would be held on July 4. The date had been a closely guarded secret and many were taken by surprise because a vote had been expected in the fall.

Saunders, a candidate standing in Bristol, southwest England, has said she will co-operate fully with the investigation.

Williams was Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary as well as a member of Parliament running for re-election on July 4. He has acknowledged he was being investigated by the Gambling Commission for placing a £100 ($128) bet on a July election before the date had been announced.

Senior Conservative minister Michael Gove condemned the alleged betting and likened it to “Partygate”, the ethics scandal that contributed to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s ouster in 2022.

That controversy caused public trust in the Conservatives to plummet after revelations that politicians and officials held lockdown-flouting parties and gatherings in government buildings during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21.

“It looks like one rule for them and one rule for us,” Gove told the Sunday Times. “That’s the most potentially damaging thing.”

Daisy Cooper, the deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said “people are sick and tired of this sleaze” and that Sunak must intervene and order an official inquiry.

The Conservative Party said it could not comment because investigations were ongoing.