The Gambling Commission is looking investigating two Tory candidates, two officials, and an officer from Rishi Sunak’s personal protection team for putting bets on when to hold the election, throwing the Conservative campaign into disarray.
The prime minister had refused to act until the Gambling Commission’s investigation was finished, but he had been under pressure to suspend the two Tory candidates, Craig Williams and Laura Saunders.
The Conservative Party declared on Tuesday morning that they would no longer be accepting nominations as Tory candidates, over two weeks after Mr. Williams became the first person to be looked into.
Mr. Williams is standing in Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr, the only Welsh seat the Conservatives were predicted to win in last week’s YouGov survey; Ms. Saunders is standing in Bristol North West.
They cannot call themselves Conservatives and will not receive any assistance from the party for the remainder of the campaign, but they will still appear as Conservative candidates on ballot papers because it is too late to replace them before next Thursday’s vote.
