Rishi Sunak's former aide among 15 people charged with election betting offences

Rishi Sunak's closest parliamentary aide when he was prime minister has been charged along with 14 others with election betting offences.

The 15, also including a current Welsh Senedd member and a former police officer, have been charged with cheating related to bets placed on the timing of the 2024 general election. Politics latest: China makes first statement after UK takes control of British Steel The Gambling Commission said its investigation, which began in June last year, "focused on individuals suspected of using confidential information - specifically advance knowledge of the proposed election date - to gain an unfair advantage in betting markets".

It opened the investigation after former Montgomeryshire MP Craig Williams, Mr Sunak's former parliamentary private secretary, admitted placing a £100 bet on 19 May 2024 that the election would be in July. Mr Sunak announced the general election would be on 4 July, three days after Williams, who was also an election candidate, placed the bet.

Williams, who was dropped as a candidate, admitted last June to placing a "flutter" on the election and said he "committed a serious error of judgement, not an offence". Current Senedd member, police officer and Tory campaign director charged Among those charged is Russell George, a Conservative member of the Welsh Senedd, who returned to the front bench in October after stepping back from his role as spokesman for mid-Wales in June.

Over the weekend, the Welsh Conservatives re-selected him to be a candidate in the Senedd elections next year, but have now suspended him pending the "outcome of the justice process". Other notable people charged are former police officer Jeremy Hunt; Tony Lee, the Conservatives' former campaign director; his wife, Laura Saunders, a former Tory election candidate, as well as Nick Mason, the Conservatives' former chief data officer.

All the others are, or were, also Conservative Party staff or candidates. The party has said those still working for them have been suspended.

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "The Conservative Party believes that those working in politics must act with integrity. Current members of staff who have been charged are being suspended with immediate effect.

"These incidents took place in May last year. Our party is now under new leadership and we are cooperating fully with the Gambling Commission to ensure that their investigation can conclude swiftly and transparently." Who are the 15 people charged? • Simon Chatfield, 51, from Farnham (former Conservative Party chief marketing officer)• Russell George, 50, from Newtown, Wales (suspended Welsh Conservative Senedd member for Montgomeryshire)• Amy Hind, 34, from Loughton, Essex• Anthony Hind, 36, from Loughton, Essex (former Conservative Party deputy digital director)• Jeremy Hunt, 55, from Horley (a former police officer, not the ex-chancellor)• Thomas James, 38, from Brecon, Wales (director of Welsh Conservatives)• Charlotte Lang, 36, from Brixton (former 2019 Conservative Aberavon candidate, current partner at Hanbury Strategy consultants)• Anthony Lee, 47, Bristol (known as Tony, former director of Conservative Party campaigning)• Iain Makepeace, 47, from Newcastle Upon Tyne (former Conservative Party head of creative, design and print)• Nick Mason, 51, from Gillingham (former Conservative Party chief data officer)• Paul Place, 53, from Hammersmith, London (trustee of The Conservative and Unionist Agents' Benevolent Association)• Laura Saunders, 37, from Bristol (Tony Lee's wife and Conservative 2024 candidate for Bristol North West who was then dropped)• James Ward, 40, from east London• Craig Williams, 39, from Llanfair Caereinion, Welshpool (former Montgomeryshire MP and Sunak aide)• Jacob Willmer, 39, from Richmond, London (partner at government advisory group Consulum and former special adviser to Greg Clarke when he was business secretary and communities and local government secretary).

Labour candidate Kevin Craig was included in the investigation after placing a bet that he would lose his bid to become an MP, but was cleared of any wrongdoing in December. The 15 charged will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 13 June.

Ellie Reeves, chair of the Labour Party, said: "This is a very serious development. The British people will expect that anyone found guilty of wrongdoing faces the full force of the law.

"Kemi Badenoch must make crystal clear that anyone found guilty of using insider information to cheat the system to try to enrich themselves has no place in the Conservative Party. No ifs, no buts.

"Labour is turning the page on 14 years of Conservative chaos and scandal and we're turning our country round through our Plan for Change. Only Labour can be trusted to deliver security for working people and the renewal Britain needs." Met Police investigation After the Gambling Commission began its investigation last June, the Metropolitan Police opened an inquiry into whether anyone had committed misconduct in public office.

In August 2024, the Met said it would not be charging anyone, but several politicians and police officers remained under investigation by the Gambling Commission into whether they had broken criminal gambling laws..