The MP, who is standing again in the general election next month, functioned as Mr. Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary as well as his eyes and ears in the House of Commons.
Williams bet £100 on an election to be held in July, days before Mr. Sunak announced the date as July 4. This was first reported by the Guardian.
According to reports, he made the wager at a Ladbrokes in his district, where the odds at the time indicated he would have earned £500.
Mr. Williams said he had been contacted by the Gambling Commission and acknowledged placing a “flutter” on the election “some weeks ago”
In a statement on X, Mr. Williams said, “It seemed best to be completely transparent as I was contacted by a journalist regarding Gambling Commission inquiries into one of my accounts.”
Jonathan Ashworth of Labour called what had transpired “utterly extraordinary”.
“Rishi Sunak has been sitting on this information for over a week, but he hasn’t had the courage to act,” he stated.
“Rishi Sunak has once more been shown to be completely helpless.
“After all the Tory financial scandals, this is more evidence that the Tories have learned nothing, haven’t changed, and if given five more years, the chaos will just continue.”
The Liberal Democrats urged the prime minister to take away Mr. Williams’s eligibility to run for government.
