London: The Conservatives’ UK election campaign has been further engulfed in scandal after a police officer in the prime minister’s security detail was arrested as part of a widening investigation into election date bets.
On Thursday (AEST), London’s Metropolitan Police said an officer from its Royalty and Specialist Protection command was arrested on Monday over alleged bets “related to the timing of the general election”, without identifying whom the officer had been guarding.
Without a paddle: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s campaign has hit another snag.Credit: AP
The officer, who has not been named, was immediately removed from operational duties and referred to the Independent Office for Police Conduct. Police said he was taken into custody and bailed “pending further inquiries”.
Amid a deepening scandal over potentially illegal bets, Laura Saunders has become the second Tory candidate investigated for allegedly betting on an early election being called – after Craig Williams, a senior aide to the prime minister, reportedly bet £100 ($190) on a July election just days before Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced it.
The allegations are another hammer blow for the 14-year-old government that polls predict is facing a catastrophic defeat on July 4. A new poll published by The Telegraph suggested Sunak is on track to become the first sitting British prime minister to lose their seat at a general election.
Saunders, who is standing in Bristol North West, was reported by the BBC to be the subject of an inquiry by the Gambling Commission. She has worked for the party since 2015 and is married to Tony Lee, the Conservative Party’s director of campaigns.
Lee has now taken a “leave of absence” as his wife is investigated. Saunders has not commented.
The timing of the election was a tightly held secret, with only a dozen people in Downing Street and Conservative headquarters believed to have been made aware of the planned date. It included Sunak’s aides, senior campaign staff, police and civil servants.
The broadcaster said Saunders worked most recently in the party’s international division – a department of Conservative Party campaign headquarters that liaises with foreign centre-right parties. It is not known when the alleged bet was placed or for how much money.