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The Conservative head of campaigning has stepped again from his function after his spouse was embroiled in a widening election-betting scandal.
Tony Lee “took a depart of absence” on Wednesday, the get together stated. His spouse, Laura Saunders, is below investigation by the Playing Fee for allegedly betting on the timing of the UK basic election.
Saunders is a Conservative staffer standing for election in Bristol North West. The playing regulator additionally launched a probe into Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide final week and a police officer from the premier’s safety element was arrested this week.
“The director of campaigning took a depart of absence from CCHQ [Conservative Campaign Headquarters] yesterday,” the Conservative get together stated on Thursday.
The scandal threatens to additional injury the Tory get together’s already struggling re-election effort. A number of polls have predicted a catastrophic defeat for Sunak and his get together on the July 4 ballot.
The Tory marketing campaign has already been broken by blunders by Sunak, together with returning early from D-Day commemorations.
Saunders and Lee didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
“If individuals have used inside info to put bets, that’s deeply unsuitable,” Michael Gove, housing secretary, informed the BBC. He added that he couldn’t “get an excessive amount of into the element whereas an investigation is occurring” however stated that in precept such exercise was “reprehensible”.
Saunders has labored for the get together since 2015, most lately serving to to liaise with centre-right events in different international locations.
Lee beforehand described himself on-line as a political campaigner “with over 20 years expertise in working elections” and stated he had led the profitable marketing campaign to re-elect former West Midlands mayor Andy Road in 2021. Lee’s LinkedIn web page was not energetic on Thursday.
He was appointed director of campaigning by deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who highlighted Lee’s work because the “mastermind” behind Road’s marketing campaign on the get together’s Spring Discussion board in March 2022.
The Playing Fee stated it was “investigating the opportunity of offences regarding the date of the election”. It added: “That is an ongoing investigation, and the Fee can’t present any additional particulars at the moment.”
The Conservative get together stated: “We’ve been contacted by the Playing Fee a couple of small variety of people. Because the Playing Fee is an unbiased physique, it wouldn’t be correct to remark additional, till any course of is concluded.”
Craig Williams, who as parliamentary non-public secretary to Sunak was certainly one of his most trusted aides, can also be below investigation after he positioned a £100 wager on a July election simply days earlier than his boss introduced the date of the vote.
Sunak stated he was “very disillusioned” in Williams, who has admitted a “enormous error of judgment” after he “positioned a flutter” on the election date.
Williams has declined to say whether or not he positioned the wager on the idea of any inside info and Sunak refused to verify if Williams had identified concerning the date of the ballot, insisting it was not acceptable to remark whereas an unbiased investigation was below manner.
Responding to the rising scandal, Labour chief Sir Keir Starmer stated it was “telling” that Sunak had not suspended these allegedly concerned from working as Conservative candidates within the election.
“If it was certainly one of my candidates they’d be gone and their ft wouldn’t have touched the ground,” he stated on a go to to York. “Politics must be about service, about public service.”
On Monday, London’s Metropolitan Police additionally arrested an officer in Sunak’s private safety element over “alleged bets” positioned on the timing of the election.
The Met confirmed {that a} member of its Royalty and Specialist Safety command had been held over “alleged bets”, with out figuring out whom he guarded. An individual conversant in the state of affairs confirmed he had been a part of Sunak’s safety element.
Extra reporting by Anna Gross
