The Gambling Commission has charged 15 people with offences under the Gambling Act 2005 following an
investigation into alleged cheating related to bets placed on the timing of the 2024 General Election.
The investigation, initiated in June 2024,
focused on individuals suspected of using confidential information - specifically advance knowledge of the proposed election date - to gain an unfair advantage
in betting markets. Such actions constitute an offence of cheating under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, a criminal offence.
The former
Conservative MP Craig Williams is among the 15 people, which includes several other senior Tories, charged by the Gambling Commission for alleged cheating
connected to bets based on the date of the 2024 UK general election.
Williams was the MP for Montgomeryshire and Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary
private secretary, but lost the support of the Conservative party after a Guardian story about alleged bets placed on a July election just days before the date
was announced.
Among others charged, according to a Gambling Commission statement, was Russell George, a Tory member of the Welsh parliament who
represents the same area as Williams did.
Others charged include Laura Saunders, the Conservative candidate for Bristol North West in July, who also
lost party support after the investigation emerged; Tony Lee, the Conservatives’ campaigns director, who is married to Saunders; and Nick Mason, who was
the Tories’ chief data officer at the time.
Those charged are due to appear at Westminster magistrates court on 13 June 2025, the Gambling
Commission said. It added that the investigation had focused on “individuals suspected of using confidential information – specifically advance
knowledge of the proposed election date – to gain an unfair advantage in betting markets”.
Claims that Williams and others may have sought to
game the betting markets with advance notion of the 4 July date were deeply embarrassing for the Conservatives at the time.
It subsequently emerged
that as many as seven Metropolitan police officers were under investigation over bets on the election timing. However, it is understood that only one former
officer, Jeremy Hunt, 55, is among the 15 charged.
The others named by the commission were: Simon Chatfield, 51, of Farnham, Surrey, a former chief
marketing officer for the Conservative party; Amy Hind, 34, of Loughton, Essex; Anthony Hind, 36, of Loughton, Essex; Thomas James, 38, of Brecon; Charlotte
Lang, 36, of Brixton, south London; Iain Makepeace, 47, of Newcastle upon Tyne; Paul Place, 53, of Hammersmith, west London; James Ward, 40, of Leytonstone,
east London; and Jacob Willmer, 39, of Richmond, south-west London.
A Conservative spokesperson said any party staff members who had been charged had
been suspended from their roles, adding: “These incidents took place in May last year. Our party is now under new leadership and we are cooperating fully
with the Gambling Commission.”
The commission has the powers to pursue and prosecute its own investigations over alleged gambling-related
offences. The Met police held its own parallel inquiry into claims of betting on the election date, but this was discontinued.
Around the same time
that the allegations first emerged, the then Scotland secretary, Alister Jack, said he had placed three bets on various dates for the election – but said
this was done without any knowledge, and that he was not being investigated.
A Labour candidate in the general election was also suspended in
connection with betting, but over a separate issue. Kevin Craig, who was standing for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, apologised for betting that he would
not win in the constituency, calling this “a huge mistake”. He was cleared by the Commission in December 2024.
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