London (AP) – A former conservative legislator and another 14 have been accused of cheating when betting at the time of Great Britain elections last year, the game commission said Monday.
Craig Williams was one of several people who had been investigated to collect internal knowledge about the date on which the then Prime Minister Rishi Sunak would call the elections. Other members of the conservative party who controlled the government at that time and at least the police bodyguards of the Prime Minister were also under investigation in the scandal.
It is legal for politicians to bet on the elections, but the investigation was about whether they used privileged information to obtain an unfair advantage. One of the popular bets at that time was to bet on the date on which the prime minister would call an election.
At that time, conventional wisdom was that Sunak would call an choice in autumn, but surprised people in May when he established the date for July 4. The vote ended up being a bloodbath for conservatives, since the Labor Party, led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, swept their position for the first time in 14 years.
Williams, who was Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary and run for re -election in the race on July 4, had revealed that he made a commitment of 100 pounds ($ 131) in the July elections days before the date was announced.
“I made an error of judgment, not a crime, and I want to reiterate my apology directly to you,” he said in a video posted on social networks.
Williams lost his seat in the elections, ending third.
Other positions faced by charges included Russell George, a conservative in the Welsh Parliament and Nick Mason, a former Torian Data Director.
]