Members of British PM Rishi Sunak’s conservative party face allegations of improper betting from the Gambling Commission Image source: Lauren Hurley, via: Wikimedia Commons
One of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s police bodyguards has been arrested over allegations of gambling with insider information.
The guard, a constable in the Royalty and Specialist Protection Command, is believed to have placed bets regarding the recently announced parliamentary election date, which was announced for July 4.
Betting on the date of an upcoming election is one of the many forms of bets that are popular in the UK, with acting on insider information considered not only as cheating, but also a criminal offence.
The announcement of the bodyguard’s arrest came after the Gambling Commission confirmed it was looking into “the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election”.
An investigation has also been launched into Sunak’s aide, Craig Williams, had bet 100 pounds ($190 AUD) that Sunak would call an election in July.
This bet was placed days before Sunak’s announcement and may have won Williams 500 pounds ($900 AUD).
The announcement of an election in July was surprising to the country, which had expected the election to occur some time between September and December.
Williams has confirmed he is being investigated, stating that he “clearly made a huge error of judgement… I apologise”.
“I don’t want to be a distraction from the campaign, I should have thought through how it looked.”
It was later revealed that a second Conservative Party candidate was being investigated by the Gambling Commission, Laura Sanders, who is married to the party’s campaign director, Tony Lee.
The Conservative Party, also known as the Tories, confirmed Lee was taking a leave of absence after reports that Lee and Sanders also faced allegations of improper betting.
Sanders is running as a candidate for a seat in Bristol while Williams is running for a parliamentary seat in Wales.
Sunak has vowed to “boot” anyone found to have broken the rules out of the Conservative Party as he prepares for the upcoming election.
The current polls indicate that Rishi Sunak is set to lose the election, with Opposition leader Keir Starmer predicted to become prime minister with a 200-seat Parliamentary majority.
Sunak is predicted to potentially become the first British prime minister in history to lose his own seat in a national election.
