UK Conservative Party withdraws support for 2 candidates over betting scandal

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The UK Conservative Party has withdrawn support from its two candidates over the election date betting scandal, according to media reports on Tuesday.

A Conservative Party spokesperson has confirmed that it is no longer supporting the two candidates at the general elections on July 4 over the allegation of the election date betting scandal which has been under investigation by both the Gambling Commission and the police.

"As a result of ongoing internal enquiries, we have concluded that we can no longer support Craig Williams or Laura Saunders as Parliamentary Candidates at the forthcoming General Election," confirmed the spokesperson.

The spokesperson added: "We have checked with the Gambling Commission that this decision does not compromise the investigation that they are conducting, which is rightly independent and ongoing."

On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his party has also been conducting internal inquiries of their own into the situation and "won't hesitate to act" when information or findings come to light.

"I was incredibly angry, incredibly angry when I learned about the allegations as everybody would be when they would hear about something like that," added Sunak over the scandal during Monday's election debate.

The scandal has escalated since it was revealed in early June that Craig Williams, Sunak’s closest parliamentary aide, is being investigated by the commission for betting £100 ($126) on a July election just days before the prime minister announced the date.