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The chief executive of the UK’s Gambling Commission has said it is investigating whether confidential information was used to gain an “unfair advantage” in betting on the date of the UK’s general election.
The comments from Andrew Rhodes, in a joint statement with London’s Metropolitan Police, are his first since the probe became public on June 12, when the now-suspended Conservative candidate, Craig Williams, announced he was under investigation over betting on the election date.
The growing betting scandal has dominated the final stage of the election campaign.
The Metropolitan Police announced on Wednesday it was taking over investigations that might involve misconduct in public office, as well as cheating in betting.
Rhodes said: “We are focused on an investigation into confidential information being used to gain an unfair advantage when betting on the date of the general election. Our enforcement team has made rapid progress so far and will continue to work closely with the Metropolitan Police to draw this case to a just conclusion.”
The Met, meanwhile, revealed that a seventh police officer was under investigation over alleged unfair betting on the election date, on top of the six the force had already revealed.
The only person so far arrested in the investigation, an unnamed police officer from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s close protection team, was arrested on suspicion of the misconduct offence.
But Detective Superintendent Katherine Goodwin, who is leading the Met investigation, said: “There will . . . be a small number of cases where a broader criminal investigation by the police is required.”
The Gambling Commission is known to be investigating five Conservative party figures over their betting on the election date. Two are Conservative candidates in the general election who have now been suspended — Williams, standing in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, and Laura Saunders, candidate for Bristol North West.
Saunders’ husband, Tony Lee, the Conservative party’s head of campaigns, and Nick Mason, the party’s head of data, have taken leave of absence after their betting came under scrutiny. Russell George, the Conservatives’ Welsh Senedd member for Montgomeryshire, has stepped back from his frontbench role after acknowledging he was under investigation.
Sunak said on Thursday that he was “not aware” of any other Tory election candidates being investigated over alleged gambling irregularities beyond the two names already in the public domain.
“If we are made aware of anything untoward by the Gambling Commission we will conduct an internal investigation and take action if necessary,” he told reporters on a visit to Derbyshire. Sunak said these were “serious matters”.
The Gambling Commission has not confirmed the identity of any of the people it is investigating over their betting. The statement said it was investigating potential offences under Section 42 of the Gambling Act. The section makes it an offence to cheat at gambling but does not define cheating.
Additional reporting by George Parker in Derbyshire