General election: Fifth Tory politician in betting probe

A Conservative politician in the Welsh Parliament is being investigated over a bet on the general election.

Russell George is the fifth Conservative to face inquiries by the Gambling Commission.

It comes on the same day the Conservatives withdrew their support for two general election candidates, including Mr George’s colleague Craig Williams, who is standing in the newly-named constituency of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr.

Mr George, whose seat is Montgomeryshire, said he will co-operate fully with the commission, and has “stepped back” from the Senedd’s Conservative shadow cabinet.

Labour called for Mr George to be suspended from the Conservative group in the Senedd.

Mr Williams was the first Tory to admit he had placed a bet on the timing of the election and who was a parliamentary aide to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

The BBC’s political editor Chris Mason reported that Mr George’s bet, placed online for a July election, was placed more than a week before the election was called and neither man was aware of the other’s bet.

It is not known how much Mr George bet or what the odds were.

Earlier on Tuesday Mr George had called on voters to back his colleague Mr Williams despite the decision by the Conservatives to withdraw party support.

He said at the time: “It may seem old fashioned, but I believe in innocent until proven guilty.”

Mr George is a Member of the Senedd (MS) for Montgomeryshire, which was the constituency represented by Mr Williams before the dissolution of the UK parliament.

In a statement issued after The Guardian broke the story, Mr George said: “Whilst I will cooperate fully with the Gambling Commission, it would not be appropriate to comment on this independent and confidential process.

“Doing so would only jeopardise and undermine the investigation. It is the Gambling Commission, not the media, that has the responsibility, powers and resources to properly investigate these matters and determine what, if any, action should be taken.

“I have stepped back from the Shadow Cabinet while the investigation is ongoing. I have done this as I do not wish to be an unnecessary distraction to their work.”

Andrew RT Davies, Welsh Conservative leader in the Senedd, said Mr George had informed him he had “received a letter from the Gambling Commission regarding bets on the timing of the general election”.

Mr Davies added: “All other Members of the Welsh Conservative [Senedd] group have confirmed that they have not placed any bets.”

Welsh Labour campaign chair Jessica Morden said: “It took Rishi Sunak almost two weeks to take action on one of his Conservative candidates.

“How long will it take Andrew RT Davies to suspend Russell George?”