Labour suspends candidate who allegedly bet on his own defeat

Work has suspended a parliamentary candidate who is accused of betting on his own defeat in the parliamentary elections.

The party fired Kevin Craig after the Gambling Commission launched an investigation against him.

HuffPost UK has learned that Craig, who is standing for Labour in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, is accused of betting against himself.

The Tories currently hold this seat with a majority of 23,391 votes. The previous seat was held by former Tory Dan Poulter, who defected to Labour in April.

A Labour 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.”

The Tories are already embroiled in their own betting scandal, with allegations that senior party members placed bets on the election date.

Earlier today, the party dropped two of its own candidates – Craig Williams and Laura Saunders – over the affair.

Conservative campaign manager Tony Lee – Saunders’ husband – and his chief data officer Nick Mason have both taken leave from their posts after they were also accused of betting on the election date.

One of the Prime Minister’s bodyguards was also arrested as part of the investigation and the Metropolitan Police confirmed today that it had been informed by the Gambling Commission that five other officials had also placed bets on the election date.

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