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Labour has suspended a parliamentary candidate who bet he would lose his bid to become an MP, as a Gambling Commission probe into political betting widened.
A Labour party spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday that the gambling regulator had launched an investigation into Kevin Craig, its candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.
The move came as the BBC reported that Scottish secretary Alister Jack had claimed he made more than £2,000 betting on a July general election.
Craig bet that he would lose at the July 4 election, according to a Labour official briefed on the matter.
On current polling, the seat of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich is a toss-up between Labour and the Conservatives.
Labour said that, after the “receipt of communication” from the Gambling Commission, it had acted to suspend Craig, adding: “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.”
The party is also set to return a £100,000 donation it took from Craig last year, according to officials.
The suspension drags Labour into a scandal that had hitherto engulfed prime minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party and the police.
Craig said: “Throughout my life I have enjoyed the odd bet for fun, whether on politics or horses. A few weeks ago, when I thought I would never win this seat, I put a bet on the Tories to win here with the intention of giving any winnings to local charities. While I did not place this bet with any prior knowledge of the outcome, this was a huge mistake, for which I apologise unreservedly.”
He added he would comply with the investigation. “I deeply regret what I have done and will take the consequences of this stupid error of judgment on the chin.”
Craig is founder and chief executive of PLMR, a Westminster lobbying firm. His selection to be the candidate to represent Labour in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich was controversial because he was on a shortlist of one.
The BBC reported that, shortly after Sunak announced the election, Jack had told the broadcaster he had made £2,100 after betting on June and July election dates.
The BBC said Jack last week stated that his previous comments had been “a joke” and that “I was pulling your leg”.
Jack told the Financial Times that he had never broken Gambling Commission rules, adding: “I did not place any bets on the date of the general election during May [the period under investigation by the Gambling Commission].”
He said he had not been contacted by the regulator.
Earlier on Tuesday, Sunak withdrew support from two Conservative party candidates who have allegedly been involved with betting on the timing of the election.
After backing Craig Williams and Laura Saunders for several days, the prime minister pulled the plug on the candidates.
Saunders, a Tory staffer and wife of the Conservative party’s campaign director, is standing in Bristol North West while Williams, a former parliamentary aide to Sunak, is a candidate in Montgomeryshire.
With nominations having closed, Williams and Saunders, like Craig, will appear on ballot papers for their parties but no longer enjoy official endorsement.
In a statement, Williams said he had committed “an error of judgment, not an offence” in placing a bet, adding: “I intend to clear my name.”
Sunak has said he is “extremely angry” about the scandal, but until now had wanted to allow official investigations into the possible use in election betting of privileged information to run their course before taking any disciplinary action.
Asked why Sunak had changed his mind, one Tory official said simply: “Further inquiries.”
London’s Metropolitan Police announced that five more officers were under investigation by the Gambling Commission for allegedly placing bets on the timing of the election, in the wake of the arrest last week of one of Sunak’s bodyguards.
The Met said the five additional officers had not been arrested or suspended. “Decisions on whether they will be subject to any restrictions will be taken in due course,” it said.
The Gambling Commission has widened its probe to look at hundreds of bets placed in the days before Sunak called the election and is sifting through wagers — for which individuals stood to gain more than £199 — to identify potential links to politicians.
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