{"id":322935,"date":"2024-06-18T16:33:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-18T21:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=322935"},"modified":"2024-06-19T10:17:36","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T15:17:36","slug":"ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/","title":{"rendered":"UKGC Probing More Election Bets After Sunak Aide Snafu"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has written to domestic betting operators asking them to examine all substantial bets made on the likelihood of a national election occurring in July.<\/p>\n

\"Craig
Craig Williams MP, left, placed a bet on the likelihood of a general election three days before his boss, PM Rishi Sunak, right, called it. Now, the UKGC wants to know if additional suspicious bets occurred. (Image: The Independent<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s closest aide, Craig Williams, was found to have placed a bet<\/a> on that eventuality just three days before Sunak announced a shock July 4 ballot to decide the next government.<\/p>\n

\n

The election announcement was unexpected. Under UK law, national elections (known as general elections) must be held no more than five years apart, but their timing is otherwise determined by the prime minister. Sunak was under no obligation to call an election until December 2015.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s unclear how the decision was strategically advantageous to the prime minister whose Conservative Party has been trailing in the polls<\/a> since the start of 2022. Bookmaker Paddy Power has odds of an opposition Labour Party victory at 1\/200, an implied probability of 99.5%.<\/p>\n

Error of Judgment <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nevertheless, the unexpectedness of Sunak\u2019s decision allowed Williams to get 5-1 on a \u00a3100 (US$128) bet. Williams, who will be standing in the election as an MP for Montgomeryshire, Wales, has refused to say whether he was party to insider information when he made the bet. Nor has he denied it.<\/p>\n

If he was, it could be a criminal offense, and one that could involve a prison sentence.<\/p>\n

\n

Williams told the BBC<\/em> last week he had made a \u201chuge error of judgment,\u201d but declined to expand, citing an ongoing independent investigation by the UKGC. Meanwhile, the UKGC wants to know if anyone else linked to Sunak or his chief aide has made a similar error of judgment at UK sportsbooks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

While political betting is illegal in the US, it\u2019s OK in the UK, although it remains a relatively small market.<\/p>\n

That also makes it one that\u2019s easy to monitor, and betting companies are hyper-vigilant about any prop bet where the result might be known to a small group of people in advance. For the same reason, most US states where sports betting is legal won\u2019t allow betting on the Oscars, for example.<\/p>\n

Politically Exposed<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Under anti-money laundering regulations, sportsbooks must also pay close attention when they identify politicians using their services. \u201cPolitically exposed persons\u201d carry a greater risk of involvement in bribery or corruption, and therefore money laundering.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s terrible optics for the Conservatives\u2019 tanking election campaign, which has adopted the tagline \u201cprofessionalism, integrity and accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds described the allegation that Williams was using privileged information as \u201cextremely serious.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is true, then he has no place on the Conservative benches, if he is to win his seat. Even the suggestion of this \u2013 which could amount to cheating, a criminal offense under the Gambling Act \u2013 is deeply corrosive to trust in politics,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has written to domestic betting operators asking them to examine all substantial bets made on the likelihood of a national election occurring in July. That\u2019s after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s closest aide, Craig Williams, was found to have placed a bet on that eventuality just three days before Sunak announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":322936,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,61,84511],"tags":[91270,91348,91349,91350],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUKGC Probing More Election Bets After Sunak Aide Snafu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Craig Williams\u2019 MP bet on UK general election draws heat as UKGC probes sportsbooks for more sketchy bets.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UKGC Probing More Election Bets After Sunak Aide Snafu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Craig Williams\u2019 MP bet on UK general election draws heat as UKGC probes sportsbooks for more sketchy bets.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-18T21:33:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-19T15:17:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/sunak.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"749\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/\",\"name\":\"UKGC Probing More Election Bets After Sunak Aide Snafu\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/sunak.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-18T21:33:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-19T15:17:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Craig Williams\u2019 MP bet on UK general election draws heat as UKGC probes sportsbooks for more sketchy bets.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/ukgc-probing-more-election-bets-after-sunak-aide-snafu\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/sunak.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/sunak.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":749,\"caption\":\"Craig Williams MP, left, placed a bet on the likelihood of a general election three days before his boss, PM Rishi Sunak, right, called it. 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