Rishi Sunak’s former Tory aide pleads responsible over common election date playing
Craig Williams, 41, who was Tory MP for Montgomeryshire and Cardiff North, admitted using confidential information to place bets on the timing of the election
Former Tory MP Craig Williams
Rishi Sunak’s former aide has pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to cheating at gambling with bets on the date of the 2024 general election.
Craig Williams, 41, who was Tory MP for Montgomeryshire and Cardiff North, admitted using confidential information to place bets on the timing of the poll.
He was part of Mr Sunak’s inner circle, having been appointed to be the former prime minister’s parliamentary private secretary, and he attended a series of planning meetings in Downing Street ahead of the 2024 election.
Williams entered his guilty plea at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Monday. He bet £250, £100, and £22.50 on the election date, prosecutors said.
When the scandal first broke, Williams, who lost his seat at the election amid the Conservative wipeout at the polls, admitted making a “huge error of judgment” when confronted over a £100 bet.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said three further cheating charges, which Williams denies, will be dropped when he is sentenced. She said Williams – a member of the Privy Council – was “given a privileged position, he was party to a number of meetings in both Downing Street and Conservative headquarters when the date of the general election was discussed”.
She added: “He has now accepted by his plea that he used highly sensitive and confidential information to place bets and to profit.”
Amy Hind, 35, the wife of Conservative deputy digital director Anthony Hind, also pleaded guilty to cheating on the date of the election. She had placed bets of £10, £5, and £20 on the date of the election, before on May 13 2024 attempting to stake £767 and £700 on a July poll.Those attempts failed, the court heard, and she attempted to place a £700 bet the following day before successfully placing a £100 bet on a July election, at odds of 11-1. A separate charge against her husband, 37, that he had cheated at gambling by passing information to his wife was then dropped by prosecutors.Hind is due to be sentenced by Judge Tony Baumgartner, the Recorder of Westminster, on October 23. Williams will not be sentenced until co-defendants have stood trial.
