Sunak Urged To Drop Candidates As Betting Investigation Widens

Senior Tories join calls for action against those under investigation

- Eleni Courea, Matthew Weaver

Rishi Sunak is facing a growing clamour to come clean about the betting scandal engulfing Westminster after a fifth figure was drawn into the row.

Senior Conservatives were last night among those calling for candidates and officials to be suspended pending the result of investigations, while the prime minister was urged to get a grip on the slow drip of revelations.

Labour wrote to the head of the Gambling Commission last night asking the watchdog to name those it has placed under investigation “in the public interest”, warning that “ongoing speculation … is casting a shadow over the election”.

The scandal has escalated since the Guardian revealed nearly two weeks ago that Craig Williams, who was Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide, was being investigated by the watchdog for betting £100 on a July election three days before Sunak surprised the country by naming the date .

After being approached for comment by this newspaper, Williams admitted he had “put a flutter on the general election some weeks ago” and the following day said he had made a “huge error of judgment”.

Five people linked to Sunak or the Conservatives have been identified as being part of the watchdog’s inquiries so far. They include Williams; the Tory candidate Laura Saunders and her husband, Tony Lee, who is the party’s campaign director; and Nick Mason, the party’s data officer.