Craig Williams among host of Conservative figures charged after Gambling Commission probes bets around the 2024 snap election.
LONDON — A former Conservative MP is among 15 people who have been charged with gambling offenses relating to the timing of the U.K.’s 2024 snap general election, the country’s betting watchdog announced Monday.
Craig Williams, former MP for Montgomeryshire, has been charged with offenses under the Gambling Act 2005 following a probe by the Gambling Commission. He is due to appear, alongside 14 other defendants, at Westminster Magistrates Court June 13.
Those charged include Laura Saunders, who was dropped as a Conservative election candidate amid an internal investigation into alleged bets placed on the timing of the vote, and her husband Tony Lee, who served as the Conservatives’ director of campaigning.
The watchdog began its investigation in June 2024 after Sunak called a surprise election, a move that is in the gift of the prime minister under the U.K. system.
As it announced the charges, the Gambling Commission said: “The investigation, initiated in June 2024, focused on individuals suspected of using confidential information — specifically advance knowledge of the proposed election date — to gain an unfair advantage in betting markets.
“Such actions constitute an offence of cheating under Section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, a criminal offence.”
A separate Metropolitan Police investigation into election bets was dropped last August.
A host of other Conservative figures were named in the watchdog’s charging announcement of charges Monday.
They include Simon Chatfield, the former chief marketing officer at Conservative HQ (CCHQ), and Russell George, a Conservative member of the Welsh Assembly for Montgomeryshire.
The watchdog also said Iain Makepeace, head of creative at CCHQ; Nick Mason, the party’s former chief data officer; Paul Place, the former head of design at CCHQ; and ex-Conservative aides Jacob Willmer, James Ward, Charlotte Lang, Thomas James, Anthony Hind and Amy Hind had been charged. A former police officer, Jeremy Hunt, has also been charged, the commission said.
A Conservative Party spokesperson said the party “believes that those working in politics must act with integrity. Current members of staff who have been charged are being suspended with immediate effect.”
They added: “These incidents took place in May last year. Our party is now under new leadership and we are cooperating fully with the Gambling Commission to ensure that their investigation can conclude swiftly and transparently.”
