Labour candidate suspended as parliamentary election betting scandal escalates

A Labour Party spokesman said the party had suspended a parliamentary candidate after being informed that the Gambling Commission had launched an investigation into him.

Kevin Craig, the Labour candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, has been suspended from the party.

After it was revealed that he was under investigation by the Gambling Commission, Craig was suspended from the Labour Party.

PA has reported that his suspension appears to have nothing to do with election-time betting.

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A Labour Party spokesman said: “With Keir Starmer as leader, the Labour Party maintains the highest standards for our parliamentary candidates, as the public rightly expects from any party seeking a seat in Parliament. That is why we acted immediately in this case.”

On his campaign website, Craig describes himself as a businessman who previously served as a Labour councillor for 17 years.

The news follows Rishi Sunak’s withdrawal of support for candidates Craig Williams and Laura Saunders in the general election betting dispute today.

The prime minister responded after coming under increasing pressure within the party to take a tougher stance on the alleged use of insider information to bet on the timing of the July 4 election.

In a sign of the wider scope of the Gambling Commission’s investigation, the regulator passed on information to the Metropolitan Police that five other officials had placed bets related to the election timing.