Sunday, November 10, 2024

Labour suspends election candidate ‘who bet on himself to lose’

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Labour said it had acted immediately to suspend General Election candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Kevin Craig, after being contacted by the Gambling Commission

Labour candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Kevin Craig has been suspended

Labour has suspended General Election candidate Kevin Craig after the Gambling Commission launched an investigation.

The party said after being contacted by the watchdog, they swiftly took action to administratively suspend the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich candidate. It is understood Mr Craig placed a bet on himself losing the seat which the Tories last won at the 2019 General Election with a majority of over 23,000.




Labour is also expected to return Mr Craig’s £100,000 donation to the party which was registered by the Electoral Commission in May 2023.

A Labour Party spokeswoman said: “With Keir Starmer as leader, the Labour party upholds the highest standards for our parliamentary candidates, as the public rightly expects from any party hoping to serve, which is why we have acted immediately in this case.”

It came just hours after Rishi Sunak finally ditched two election candidates as the crisis into the General Election betting scandal deepend. The PM only took action on Tuesday despite allegations emerging 13 days earlier that one of his aides placed a £100 bet on the election date. The Labour leader Keir Starmer responded: “Why didn’t that happen a week ago?”

A Tory candidate also vented anger, telling the Mirror: “Yet again No10 has made a fixable problem one that brings people to question their entire judgement.” The scandal first broke on June 12, when it emerged the Gambling Commission was looking into the PM’s parliamentary aide Craig Williams, who is standing to be MP in Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr.

After the Tories dropped him, he insisted he “committed an error of judgement, not an offence”, adding: “I intend to clear my name.” In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Williams told his constituents: “I remain on the ballot paper come July 4 and I hope to secure your support after years of delivery.

“I committed an error of judgement, not an offence, and I want to reiterate my apology directly to you. I am fully co-operating with routine inquiries from the Gambling Commission and I intend to clear my name.”

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