Top Sunak aide Craig Williams bet on general election date

Rishi Sunak's closest parliamentary aide placed a £100 bet on a July election just three days before the date of the snap poll was announced.

The gamble is "likely to be highly embarrassing" for the PM, who has been "accused of presiding over a calamitous general election campaign", said The Guardian.

The Gambling Commission watchdog has opened an inquiry after Ladbrokes flagged Craig Williams's bet in May as potentially problematic. Had it not faced scrutiny, the bet could have led to a £500 payout on odds of 5/1. 

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The story was "trumpeted" by Labour, said Politico. "These allegations are utterly extraordinary," said party spokesperson Jon Ashworth. "Rishi Sunak has sat on this information for more than a week but has lacked any backbone to take action."

Speaking to "BBC Breakfast" this morning, David Cameron described it as a "very foolish decision" by Williams. The Gambling Commission has "considerable powers in terms of what the consequences could be", said the foreign secretary, but added that the deadline had passed for the party to take him off the ballot.

Williams, who is standing for election in Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr in Wales, has admitted to placing the bet. In a statement posted on X yesterday, he said he didn't want to "be a distraction from the campaign" and "should have thought through how it looks". Today, he apologised for what he described as "a huge error of judgement".

"Are we honestly supposed to believe he didn't know the exact date?" said an unnamed Conservative MP to The Telegraph. "It just presents an image of the party as totally self-serving." 

The Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said the prime minister should immediately suspend Williams as a candidate and Conservative member while inquiries take place. "Voters are being taken for granted by Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives," she said.