On Monday, June 29th Craig Williams—a former member of parliament and close aide of UK ex-prime minister Rishi Sunak—pled guilty at Southwark Crown Court to cheating at gambling with bets on the date of the 2024 general election.
Previously, Williams was among 15 people charged with gambling offences in relation to the timing of the 2024 general election, the UK Gambling Commission watchdog announced on Monday, April 14th, 2025
Craig Williams apologised at the time for his alleged £100 (€116) bet on a July 2024 election date, without disclosing whether or not he used advance knowledge which, under UK rules, would mean he enjoyed an unfair advantage. Also charged, among others with links to Sunak and the Tories, is Nick Mason, the party’s chief data officer at the time of the alleged offences.
While the Conservative party withdrew support for Williams ahead of the general election, it did little to halt the slide into the hapless campaign and defeat that handed power to Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.
(The original version of this story appeared as “15 Tory Has-Beens Charged with Gambling Offences” on April 14, 2025.)
