On 12 June 2024, the Guardian newspaper reported that Craig Williams, a Conservative candidate and a senior aide to the prime minister, had placed a bet on the timing of the general election.

The revelation sparked a major political scandal that engulfed the Conservative Party’s election campaign.

Williams, who was standing for re-election in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, had served as Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary (PPS). A PPS acts as an unpaid parliamentary assistant – providing a link between the senior frontbencher and backbench MPs. Implicitly, a crucial part of the job is to serve as the frontbencher’s “eyes and ears” in the tearooms and corridors of Westminster, gauging the mood of colleagues on policy and feeding back intelligence. 

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Williams was reported to have placed a £100 bet at odds of 5/1 on a July election on 19 May, just three days before Sunak stood outside 10 Downing Street and announced the surprise 4 July polling day. The bet, placed with Ladbrokes, stood to return a £500 profit.

The Guardian reported that the Gambling Commission had launched an inquiry.

In a statement, Williams said: “I’ve been contacted by a journalist about Gambling Commission inquiries into one of my accounts and thought it best to be totally transparent.

“I put a flutter on the general election some weeks ago. This has resulted in some routine inquiries and I confirm I will fully cooperate with these.

“I don’t want it to be a distraction from the campaign, I should have thought how it looks.”

Speaking on 13 June, Williams added: “I’ve clearly made a huge error of judgment, that’s for sure. And I apologise.”

A Conservative party spokesperson said: “We are aware of contact between a Conservative candidate and the Gambling Commission.

“It is a personal matter for the individual in question. As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn’t be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded.”

Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, condemned Williams for making a “clearly very foolish decision”.

The former prime minister 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. And so I can’t really comment any further on it.”

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow paymaster general, said: “These allegations are utterly extraordinary. Rishi Sunak has sat on this information for more than a week but has lacked any backbone to take action. Once again Rishi Sunak has been exposed as utterly weak.

“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 disclosure immediately derailed the Conservative campaign, raising difficult questions about standards in public life and contributing to a narrative of ‘sleaze’ at the top of the party.

Further revelations saw the scandal encompass Conservative officials and candidates, as well as a police protection officer.

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On 25 June, some two weeks after the initial Guardian report, the Conservative Party announced it had withdrawn its support from those candidates implicated in what became known as ‘Gamblegate’. However, the Conservative branding and name remained on the ballot papers, as the suspension came after nominations for the election had closed.

Williams finished third in his former Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr constituency, having secured 7,775 votes (18.0%).

Steve Witherden, the victorious Labour candidate, secured 12,709 votes (29.4%). The Reform UK candidate, Oliver Lewis, won 8,894 votes (20.6%).

Nationally, the Conservative lost a net 251 seats, returning a mere 121 MPs. The Labour Party under Keir Starmer’s leadership secured 411 seats and a 174-seat majority.