LONDON (AP) — A former conservative lawmaker and 14 other 14 people were charged with fraud while betting on the timing of last year’s UK general election, the Gambling Commission said Monday.
Craig Williams was one of several people investigated for cashing in insider knowledge of the date that then Minister Rishi Snack called the election. Other members of the Conservative Party, which controlled the government at the time, and at least one of the prime minister’s police bodyguards, were also investigating the scandal.
It is legal for politicians to wager on elections, but the investigation was about whether they used inside information to obtain unfair benefits. One of the popular bets of the time was to wager the day the prime minister called for an election.
At the time, traditional wisdom was that Sunak would call elections in the fall, but he surprised people in May, when he set the date for July 4th. The vote was bloody for conservatives as the Labour Party, led by Prime Minister Kiel, took away his occupation for the first time in 14 years.
Sunak’s Congress secretary and running for reelection in the race on July 4th, Williams revealed he had placed a bet of £100 ($131) on the election day in July, when the date was announced.
“I made a mistake in my judgment, not a crime. I want to repeat my apology directly to you,” he said in a video posted on social media.
Williams lost his seat in the election and finished third.
Others facing the charges include Russell George, a conservative in the Welsh Parliament, and Nick Mason, former Chief Data Officer of Tory.
