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Ex-Tory MP among 15 charged with placing bets on timing of General Election

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/ex-tory-mp-among-15-charged-placing-bets-timing-general-election

A sign for a polling station at Magdalen Hill Cemetery near Winchester, Hampshire, July 4, 2024

FORMER Tory MP Craig Williams was among 15 people charged today in connection to bets placed on the timing of the general election last May.

Russell George, the Tory Senedd member for Montgomeryshire, and Nick Mason, a former chief data officer for the party, are also facing charges.

Welsh Conservatives leader Darren Millar said he had suspended Mr George from the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd.

“The suspension is a neutral act pending the outcome of the justice process,” he said.

The Gambling Commission began its investigation in June, focusing on “individuals suspected of using confidential information — specifically advance knowledge of the proposed election date — to gain an unfair advantage in betting markets.”

Laura Saunders, a Tory candidate for Bristol North West, and former Conservative party chief marketing officer Simon Chatfield, were also among those charged with offences under the Gambling Act 2005.

They are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 13.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/ex-tory-mp-among-15-charged-placing-bets-timing-general-election

Continue ReadingEx-Tory MP among 15 charged with placing bets on timing of General Election

Badenoch green-lights local Reform pacts

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/badenoch-green-lights-local-reform-pacts

A Reform UK activist holds up a banner as party leader Nigel Farage visits Denby Lodge in Ripley, Derbyshire, whilst on the local election campaign trail, April 10, 2025

KEMI BADENOCH took the first tentative steps towards agreement with the hard-right Reform party today.

The Tory leader green-lighted local deals by Tory councillors to take control of councils in partnership with Nigel Farage’s supporters.

Ms Badenoch claimed that she still ruled out a national deal with Reform to unite the right-wing, but local pacts will be a clear stepping stone towards some type of agreement.

Most opinion polls now show Reform leading the Tories, and sometimes Labour too.

It is estimated that the split between the two right-wing parties might have handed Labour as many as 100 seats at last year’s general election.

Tory strategists fear that, despite Labour’s polling slump, that outcome could be repeated at the next election in the absence of any deal with Reform.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/badenoch-green-lights-local-reform-pacts

Nigel Farage explains the politics of Reform UK: Racism, Fake anti-establishmentism, Deregulation, Corporatism, Climate Change Denial, Mysogyny and Transphobia.
Nigel Farage explains the politics of Reform UK: Racism, Fake anti-establishmentism, Deregulation, Corporatism, Climate Change Denial, Mysogyny and Transphobia.

Continue ReadingBadenoch green-lights local Reform pacts