Cameron blasts ‘silly’ Sunak aide Craig Williams over election guess
David Cameron lashed out at ‘foolish’ Tory MP Craig Williams today as the aide to Rishi Sunak faced condemnation for placing a £100 bet on the date of the election.
The Foreign Secretary admitted it was too late to take the Conservative candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr off the ballot paper this close to the election.
Mr Williams is under investigation by the Gambling Commission for a wager on a July election placed four days before Mr Sunak announced the vote on July 4.
The Prime Minister’s parliamentary private secretary today admitted to ‘a huge error of judgement’ amid calls for him to be thrown out by the Tories.
Using confidential information in order to gain an unfair advantage when betting may constitute a criminal offence of cheating under section 42 of the Gambling Act, the Commission said yesterday.
Asked about the row today, Lord Cameron told BBC Breakfast: ‘His situation, having made this clearly very foolish decision, is that he’s being investigated by the Gambling Commission, and they have considerable powers in terms of what the consequences could be, and I think we have to let that investigation take place.’
David Cameron lashed out at ‘foolish’ Tory MP Craig Williams today as the aide to Rishi Sunak faced condemnation for placing a £100 bet on the date of the election.
The Foreign Secretary admitted it was too late to take the Conservative candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr off the ballot paper this close to the election.
He said he was happy to have Williams run as a Tory, but added: ‘All the nominations are in, and candidates are standing, and I don’t think we can change that.
‘In fact, it’s very important that we don’t make alterations, after these things have been set. But obviously, he’s going to be investigated, and we’ll have to face the consequences of that investigation.’
Mr Williams placed a £100 with Ladbrokes from within Montgomeryshire on May 19, backing a July election.
On May 22 Mr Sunak announced July 4 would be the date of the vote, outside No10. That would have landed Mr Williams £500. Ladbrokes raised the bet with the GC, which reportedly told No10 last week.
This morning he told the BBC: ‘I clearly made a huge error of judgement that’s for sure and I apologise.’
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: ‘Rishi Sunak must stop being so weak and call a Cabinet Office inquiry into this latest scandal. This inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of who knew what when, and uncover whether Craig Williams knew the election date at the time the bet was placed.
‘The Conservative Party has been mired in endless sleaze and scandal for years and the British people are sick to their back teeth with it.
