Rishi Sunak’s most senior adviser Liam Booth-Smith interviewed as a witness by Gambling Commission in election betting probe | Politics News

Rishi Sunak’s most senior adviser at Downing Street has been interviewed in the investigation into the Conservatives’ bets on the date of the general election.

Liam Booth-Smith, Downing Street chief of staff, was interviewed last week by senior Gambling Commission officials and asked who knew about the timing of the election.

Sources stressed to Sky News that Mr Booth-Smith is not a suspect in the gambling investigation and has been interviewed as a witness and “asked for help”.

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Described as the prime minister’s most trusted ally, Booth-Smith has worked for Sunak since he was chancellor, when his taste in leather jackets earned him the nickname “the Travolta of the Treasury”.

Aged 37, he was raised in a single-parent family in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. Before working for Sunak, he also worked for Boris Johnson in Number 10.

Last year, New Statesman magazine placed Booth-Smith at number nine on a list of the 50 most powerful people in British conservative politics.

According to a member of the Gambling Commission, Mr Booth-Smith was interviewed by “senior Gambling Commission officials, more senior than the investigators”.

There are no plans to interview Sunak

Sky News has also been told there are currently no plans to interview the Prime Minister as part of the investigation into election date betting.

A commission source added: “However, if this is the case, the Met is more likely to conduct this type of interview for a high-profile investigation.”

During the cash-for-honours scandal of 2006-07, Sir Tony Blair was questioned three times by police about whether loans were sought from wealthy Labor donors in exchange for peerages.

Each time Sir Tony has been interviewed, it has been as a witness and inside Downing Street. He was not arrested and the interviews did not take place under caution.

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During the ‘partygate’ scandal in 2022, Boris Johnson was asked to complete a questionnaire and then became the first Prime Minister to be questioned by police under caution.

The revelation that Booth-Smith was interviewed by the gambling regulator comes as Sunak has repeatedly refused to say whether he told his parliamentary aide Craig Williams about the election date.

Former Conservative candidate subject to ‘live criminal investigation’

It also came 24 hours later Sky News revealed that Mr Williams, Conservative candidate in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, was interviewed by Gambling Commission officials about his betting at the time of the general election.

Williams was cautioned and interviewed by two former police officers and a former HMRC employee who are now commission investigators, according to a Gambling Commission source.

It is understood the commission is now conducting a “real-time criminal investigation” and Mr Williams could face prosecution, a caution or no further action depending on the evidence.

It was revealed two weeks ago that Williams placed a £100 bet on the July election, just three days before Sunak announced the election on May 22.

He reportedly placed a bet with bookmakers Ladbrokes on Sunday 19 May in his Welsh constituency, which was the Conservatives’ safest seat in Wales at the 2019 election, with a majority of more than 12,000.

Admitting he made the bet, Williams said: “I made waves in the general election a few weeks ago.

“This has resulted in some routine investigations and I confirm that I will cooperate fully with them.”

The Gambling Commission is not just investigating bets made by conservatives.

Labor candidate in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, Kevin Craigwho bet on the Conservatives winning the seat, is also being investigated and was suspended by Sir Keir Starmer.

The latest statement on the Metropolitan Police’s gambling investigation revealed that seven officers are being investigated for betting on the date of the election.