Fourth UK Conservative Party official reportedly investigated in widening election betting scandal

LONDON — The data director of Britain’s Conservative Party has taken a leave of absence, British media reported on Sunday, following growing accusations that members of the ruling party have been using inside information to bet on the election date. Britain’s 4th of July national election.

The Sunday Times and others reported that Nick Mason is the fourth Conservative official to be investigated by the UK Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the timing of the election before the date was announced.

The Times alleged that dozens of bets had been placed with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds.

Two other Conservative election candidates, Laura Saunders and Craig Williams, are being investigated by the gambling watchdog. Saunders’ husband, Tony Lee, the Conservative campaign manager, also took a leave of absence following allegations that he too was investigated for alleged gambling.

The growing scandal, which occurred just two weeks before the national election, has dealt a fresh blow to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party, which is expected to lose to the opposition Labor Party after 14 years in power.

Sunak said this week that he was “incredibly angry” learned of the allegations and said that anyone found to have broken the law should be expelled from his party.

Saunders, a candidate running in Bristol, southwest England, has said she will cooperate fully with the investigation. Williams was Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary and also a candidate.

Conservative minister Michael Gove condemned the alleged betting and compared it to “ party”, the ethics scandal that contributed to the overthrow of Prime Minister Boris Johnson in 2022.

That controversy caused public trust in the Conservatives to plummet after revelations that politicians and officials held parties and meetings in government buildings during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

“It seems like a rule for them and a rule for us,” Gove told the Sunday Times. “That’s the most potentially damaging thing.”

Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said “people are sick and tired of this sleaze” and Sunak must intervene and order an official inquiry.

The Conservative Party said it cannot comment because investigations are ongoing.