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Ex-Rishi Sunak Aide Among 15 Charged for Insider Betting on UK Election Date
Posted on: April 14, 2025, 08:33h.
Last updated on: April 14, 2025, 09:57h.
- Craig Williams among 15 charged over election date betting
- Other senior Conservative officials also charged
- UK Gambling Commission says betting with inside info is a criminal offense
A former private secretary to former UK prime minister Rishi Sunak was among 15 people charged by the country’s gambling regulator for offenses related to insider election betting on Monday morning.
Former Conservative MP Craig Williams was one of Sunak’s closest aides. In July last year, he admitted placing a £100 (US$131) bet at 5/1 on a general election taking place just days before the prime minister made the surprise announcement that Brits would indeed be heading to the polls. At the time, Williams refused to comment on whether the bet was made using privileged information.
Top Tory Officials Charged
Others charged Monday following an extensive investigation by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) include Tony Lee, then the Conservative Party’s director of campaigns, and his wife, Laura Saunders.
The latter was standing in the election as a Conservative member of parliament for Bristol North West until her involvement in the scandal prompted her withdrawal. The party’s chief data officer, Nick Mason, is also charged.
The election announcement was unexpected. In the UK, national elections must be held no more than five years apart, but their timing is otherwise determined by the prime minister.
In a statement Monday, the regulator said that betting with insider information constitutes an offense of cheating under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, and is punishable by up to two years in prison.
The commission has the authority to bring criminal prosecutions where appropriate under sections 27 and 28 of the Gambling Act.
Final Straw
The betting scandal was the final nail in the coffin for an already deeply unpopular Conservative government. It precipitated an avalanche win for the Labour Party that swept Keir Starmer into power.
A poll just before the election found that one in nine voters said they would change the way they voted as a result of the scandal. The survey showed the incident had eroded whatever trust voters had left in the party’s ability to govern.
Former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove admitted the scandal “sucked the oxygen out of the [Conservative election] campaign.”
‘Politically Exposed’
The UKGC began its investigation after Williams’ wager on the Ladbrokes sports betting platform triggered an immediate red flag.
While betting on political outcomes is legal in the UK, the markets are small and closely monitored, especially one like this where the result could be known by a select few.
Under anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, operators must pay close attention to politicians who use their services. That’s because lawmakers, known as “politically exposed persons” or “PIPs” in AML jargon, carry a greater risk of involvement in bribery or corruption, and therefore, money laundering.
Ladbrokes passed its suspicions about Williams on to the gambling regulator.
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