Election latest: Tories delete Labour attack ad - as party faces 'big problem' (2024)

Sky political editor Beth Rigbyhas been speaking to Housing Secretary Michael Gove.

Just before their interview began, the BBC reported that Tony Lee, the director of campaigns for the Conservative Party, was also facing a Gambling Commission investigation.

In response, Mr Gove said he was "almost lost for words".

While he said we have to wait for the investigations to conclude, he added: "You shouldn't be using inside information to try to make a few hundred quid on the side.

"That is just not acceptable."

It's "terrible", he said - adding he was "disappointed" as the "future of this election really matters to me and my children".

It's been a blistering few hours in political news after more allegations of betting by a Conservative candidate surfaced.

So here is a quick summary of what we know.

Last week

Craig Williams, a close parliamentary aide of Rishi Sunak, admitted to placing a "flutter" on the date of the election "weeks ago".

This is reported to have happened just before the prime minister surprised many by calling a vote for 4 July, with Mr Williams said to have staked a £100.

The Conservative Party said it was a personal matter.

Mr Williams is the party's candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr.

Read more and see the full list of candidates for the seat here:

Yesterday

It emerged that one of Mr Sunak's close protection police officers had been arrested over alleged bets on the timing of the election.

Sky News understands several bets were placed, with at least one of them being a three-figure sum.

Read more on this story here:

Today

It emerged overnight that Laura Saunders, the Tory candidate for Bristol North West, is facing an investigation by the Gambling Commission.

Ms Saunders is married to Tony Lee, who is the party's director of campaigns.

The Gambling Commission has not commented on individual cases.

But it said today that "currently the commission is investigating the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election".

It added: "This is an ongoing investigation, and the commission cannot provide any further details at this time."

The Conservative Party said they had been contacted by the commission about a "small number" of individuals.

Read more and see the full list of candidates for Bristol North West here:

As expected, the Bank of England has held interest rates at 5.25% for the seventh time in a row.

The Monetary Policy Committee's vote in favour of maintaining the 16-year high in rates had been widely expected by economists and financial markets.

You can follow dedicated updates in our Money blog here:

In the past few minutes, the Conservative Party X account has deleted an advert uploaded yesterday.

The video, which features scenes from a roulette wheel, bears the slogan: "If you bet on Labour, you can never win."

It was posted before the revelations about one of Rishi Sunak's protection officers being arrested over alleged political bets.

It also predated claims about Laura Saunders and her husband Tony Lee.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove has been speaking to broadcasters this morning, after more allegations surfaced that Tory candidates bet on the date of the election.

Mr Gove says what has been claimed is "very, very, far from satisfactory behaviour".

He acknowledges that the world will think the look of what's transpired "is not great".

But the allegations are being "investigated" now - and the party will be doing "much more than just raising an eyebrow".

Asked if he had seen a similar situation before, Mr Gove says that in campaigns there can be "human lapses by individuals".

He adds: "My view is let the process take its course, be properly critical of people who've made mistakes, and then in the fullness of time, hope that they can find forgiveness."

Starmer calls for suspensions

At the same time as Mr Gove was speaking, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer was also talking to journalists.

He called for the suspension of candidates who were being investigated.

Sir Keir said: "This candidate should be suspended and it's very telling that Rishi Sunak has not already done that.

"If it was one of my candidates, they'd be gone and their feet would have not touched the floor."

By Rob Powell, political correspondent

Politics, as with comedy, is so often about timing.

And you'd have thought the Conservative official in charge of social media may have sensed danger before putting out an advert on party channels featuring a roulette wheel and the accompanying caption: "If you bet on Labour, you can never win."

That's because within hours of the button being pushed on that post, it was confirmed that a second Tory candidate was being investigated for allegedly placing a bet on the timing of the general election shortly before it was publicly announced.

Now, we also know that Laura Saunders - who is standing in Bristol North West - is married to the party's director of campaigning, someone who you'd assume would have access to private information potentially about the election.

This matters legally because it is an offence to use inside information not available to others to gain an unfair advantage when placing a bet.

But it also matters politically for two reasons.

Read Rob's full analysis here:

Pat McFadden, Labour's national campaign coordinator, has written to Rishi Sunak about the betting "scandal" currently unfolding in the Conservative Party.

It comes after one of the prime minister's aides - who is also an election candidate - admitted betting on the date of the election, a member of his protection detail was arrested over allegations of similar bets, and another Conservative candidate faces an investigation over similar claims.

Mr McFadden said: "Dear prime minister, I am writing to you regarding the scandal that is unfolding around your announcement of the general election on 22 May, and the growing number of individuals accused of making bets to try to profit from their inside knowledge of that announcement."

He added: "Can I ask you very simply why you think that a serving police officer should be suspended from his role, because of allegations that he made a bet based on inside information, while the two colleagues of yours who so far stand accused of the same offence - Craig Williams, your PPS, and Laura Saunders, a member of your CCHQ staff and partner of your campaigns director - are still being allowed to stand as Tory candidates in the election on 4 July?

"Surely you can understand that - yet again - this looks as though there is one rule for members of the Tory party, and another rule for everyone else, specifically on this occasion a serving police officer.

"If you can see how wrong that is, will you now at the very least remove your support for Mr Williams and Ms Saunders as Conservative election candidates?"

The Labour frontbencher adds: "I urge you to gain a sense of urgency and decency about this matter, and do what is necessary both to establish how wide this scandal goes, and take immediate action against all those implicated.

"It will speak volumes if you choose to stay silent and do nothing instead."

Tony Lee, the Conservative Party's head of campaigns, took a leave of absence last night, Sky News has been told.

This was around the same time the story first broke that his Conservative candidate wife - Laura Saunders - was facing being investigated by the Gambling Commission.

Mr Lee appears to have made his social media accounts private, but was announced as the party's campaign chief role back in 2022 at the Conservative Party conference.

He has also worked for Andy Street, who until recently was the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands.

Mr Lee described himself as "an experienced political campaigner with over 20 years experience in running election".

His past includes "successfully leading Andy Street's re-election campaign as mayor of the West Midlands in 2021 and numerous local election campaigns".

Sky deputy political editor Sam Coates has been analysing the developments around the potential investigations into bets placed on the date of the general election by Conservatives.

He says it is a "big, big, big problem" for the government.

"This is one of those stories that everybody can understand," Sam adds.

"First, it was his top parliamentary aide - called Craig Williams - who has admitted and apologised for putting a bet on the date of the election, three days before Rishi Sunak called that election.

"He's being investigated by the Gambling Commission.

"Now a second candidate who just so happens to be married to somebody in Conservative headquarters who deals with campaigning, they are also under investigation.

"And, a member of the prime minister's police protection squad, they were arrested earlier in the week.

"And it does look as if people immediately around the prime minister may have been looking to eke out some personal advantage, by having this bit of super secret information that the rest of us weren't privy to about the election date.

"An election date which I have to say is a gamble that, for everybody else in the Conservative Party, looks like it's gone wrong.

"But for those three people, it looked like they tried to get an upside, but they look like they might have been found out."

Our live poll tracker collates the results of opinion surveys carried out by all the main polling organisations - and allows you to see how the political parties are performing in the run-up to the general election.

It currently shows a drop in support in recent days for Labour and the Tories - with a jump for Reform and the Liberal Democrats.

Read more about the tracker here.