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full screen British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he is “extremely angry” about suspicions that, among other things, his campaign manager, based on inside information, bet money on the date of the election before Sunak made it public. Photo: Stefan Rousseau/AP/TT
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he is “extremely, extremely angry”.
The anger concerns the suspicions that senior representatives of his own party, the Conservative Party (Tories), engaged in illegal betting on the date of the British election before he himself announced it.
If they bet money based on inside information they had, it could be criminal.
When Sunak was questioned by the BBC on Thursday evening, he said that the suspicions are serious but that the ongoing investigations must be allowed to take their course. At the same time, he emphasized that if it turns out that someone broke the rules, they should not only have to take the legal consequences of it.
– I will also make sure that they are kicked out of the party, said Sunak.
It is not any members or representatives who are suspected of betting money on when the election would be held. It is about Sunak’s campaign manager, two of the party’s candidates in the election on July 4 – including the campaign manager’s wife – and one of those responsible for Sunak’s security.
It is not illegal to bet on election dates, but it is illegal to do so based on insider information. It is not known what date the four bet money on.
Sunak and his party appear to be headed for a crushing defeat and lost government power in the election.