Met Police to lead election betting probe for 'small number of cases' which could relate to misconduct in public office

26 June 2024, 22:26 | Updated: 27 June 2024, 08:07

By Kieran Kelly

@kellyjourno

The Metropolitan Police has said it will begin investigating a "small number" of cases relating to the ongoing betting scandal involving several politicians and police officers.

The police force said the Met is not taking over investigations into the alleged bets, with the Gambling Commission set to lead the way.

However, the Met will investigate cases involving alleged offences that go beyond the Gambling Act that could be related to misconduct in public office.

One member of Rishi Sunak's close protection team was arrested over an alleged bet made on the date of the election, with five more police officers now being investigated.

Meanwhile, as many as fifteen Conservatives could be under investigation by the Gambling Commission over alleged bets made on the date of the election, reports suggest.

Two Conservative candidates have been suspended so far - Laura Saunders and Craig Williams - following an internal party investigation.

However, the Gambling Commission's investigation is separate and is operationally independent, like the police.

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A Met Police spokesperson said: "The Met is not taking over the investigation into bets on the timing of the General Election.

"The Gambling Commission will continue to lead the investigation into cases where the alleged offending is limited to breaches of the Gambling Act only.

"Met detectives will lead on investigating a small number of cases to assess whether the alleged offending goes beyond Gambling Act offences to include others, such as misconduct in public office.

"We will provide further information tomorrow."

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As things stand, at least five Conservatives are being investigated by the Gambling Commission as part of its inquiry into wagers on the timing of the July 4 poll.

And on Wednesday evening, it emerged that one Tory candidate - Philip Davies - allegedly bet £8,000 on himself losing his marginal seat in Shipley, according to The Sun.

This is similar to the actions of one suspended Labour candidate, Kevin Craig, who bet on himself to lose in the upcoming election. He was immediately suspended by the Labour Party.

On Tuesday, cabinet minister Alister Jack admitted to placing three bets on the election date, one of which was successful.

However, Mr Jack is not being investigated by the regulator because he staked the money earlier in the year, before the period covered by the watchdog's probe into the alleged use of inside information.

He denied previous reports in which he claimed during an interview conducted shortly after the snap election that he had won £2,100 on a bet.

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On Wednesday, Mr Sunak and Sir Keir went head-to-head in this election's final leaders' debate, with the Labour leader accusing the Prime Minister of being "bullied into action" in relation to the betting scandal.

Mr Sunak said he was "furious" to learn about the allegations made against Conservatives and confirmed two people had been suspended following an internal party investigation.

The Labour leader said he acted "swiftly" to suspended one Labour candidate who bet on himself to lose the election.