LONDON (AP) — The chief data officer of Britain’s ruling Conservative Party has been placed on administrative leave, British media reported Sunday, amid growing allegations that party members used inside information to gamble on the date of Britain’s general election, scheduled for July 4.
According to reports from the Sunday Times and other sources, Nick Mason is the fourth senior Conservative Party official to be investigated by the UK Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the timing of an election before the date was announced.
The Times claimed dozens of bets had been made with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds.
Two other Conservative candidates, Laura Sanders and Craig Williams, are also under investigation by the gambling watchdog, while Sanders’ husband, Tony Lee, the Conservative campaign manager, is also on leave after being investigated over gambling allegations.
The widening scandal, coming just two weeks before a general election, is a new blow to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Conservative party, which is widely expected to be defeated by the opposition Labour party after 14 years in power.
Mr Sunak said this week he was “deeply angry” to learn of the allegations and that anyone who breaks the law should be expelled from the party.
Conservative campaign chief resigns mid-election amid gambling investigation https://t.co/4ecXGlV9Yv
—Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 21, 2024
Sanders, who is running for office in Bristol, southwest England, has said he will cooperate fully with the investigation. As well as being a candidate, Williams was also Mr Sunak’s parliamentary secretary.
Senior Conservative minister Michael Gove condemned the gambling allegations, likening them to “Partygate”, the ethics scandal that led to the downfall of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022.
The controversy saw public trust in the Conservative party plummet during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021 after it emerged politicians and government officials had held lockdown-flouting parties and gatherings in government buildings.
“It seems to be one rule for them and one rule for us,” Gove told The Sunday Times. “And that’s where it can do the most damage.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said “the public is sick of this wrongdoing” and said Chancellor Sunak should step in and order a formal investigation.
The Conservative Party said it could not comment because the investigation was ongoing.
