A senior Conservative official is being investigated by the Gambling Commission over allegations that he placed dozens of bets on the timing of the election before its announcement.
Nick Mason, the Conservatives’ chief data officer, has become the fourth person in the party to be named as part of the watchdog’s investigation.
The Conservative Party confirmed that Mr Mason has taken a leave of absence, according to The Sunday Times.
A spokesperson for Mr Mason said that it would not be appropriate to comment on the investigation but denied any wrongdoing.
Craig Williams, Rishi Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary standing in Montgomeryshire, Laura Saunders, standing in Bristol North West, and her husband Tony Lee, director of campaigning at the party, are also under investigation for election betting.
Michael Gove, the outgoing Levelling Up Secretary, likened the controversy to the Partygate scandal which tarnished Boris Johnson’s premiership in an interview with The Sunday Times.
Mr Mason is said to have placed several dozen bets over an unspecified period of time before Mr Sunak announced the snap general election on 4 July.
Each bet is thought to have been worth less than £100, but in total the bets may have amounted to thousands of pounds.
A police officer working as part of Mr Sunak’s close security team is also being investigated over alleged bets on the timing of the general election and was arrested earlier this week.
The officer is a member of the Met’s Royalty and Specialist Protection (RaSP) Command, which offers personal protection to ministerial VIPs and members of the Royal Family.
According to Sky News, the officer placed several bets, with at least one of them being a three-figure sum.
Section 42 of the 2005 Gambling Act states that it is a criminal offence to cheat at gambling or enable or assist another to do so.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of up to two years in prison.
Previously, Mr Sunak said he was “incredibly angry” over the allegations, adding: “What I can tell you is if anyone is found to have broken the rules, not only should they face the full consequences of the law, I will make sure that they are booted out of the Conservative Party.”
Speaking on Sunday, Home Secretary James Cleverly told Sky News: “I’m not in any way going to defend people who placed bets on that.
“There is an investigation by the Gambling Commission and we have been told very, very clearly that we are not to discuss the investigations.”
He added that “my understanding is that it is a small number of individuals” involved.
The Gambling Commission said: “The commission is investigating the possibility of offences concerning the date of the election. This is an ongoing investigation, and the commission cannot provide any further details at this time. We are not confirming or denying the identity of any individuals involved in this investigation.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “As instructed by the Gambling Commission, we are not permitted to discuss any matters related to any investigation with the subject or any other persons.”
