Corruption in Politics? You Bet!
Two weeks ahead of the election, turmoil exists in the Tory Party
You couldn’t make it up.
The general election is two weeks away as I write this article. Today, a third allegation was made about a bet predicting the election date.
For the second time in a week, a Conservative candidate is being investigated following allegations of a bet placed, where advance knowledge could be used for financial gain.
Last week, Conservative candidate Craig Williams, standing in the newly named constituency of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr was being investigated and he has said:
“I clearly made a huge error of judgement that’s for sure and I apologise“
A police protection officer close to Rishi Sunak was suspended for a similar allegation, although, any charges could be different.
Today (Thursday) the candidate is Laura Saunders, standing for the party in Bristol North West. What complicates this allegation, is that Laura Saunders is married to Tony Lee, the Director of Campaigning for the Conservative Party.
Tony Lee has taken a leave of absence while investigations by the Gambling Commission are underway. At this point, it is unclear whether Lee placed a bet himself.
The Conservatives have now lost their director of campaigning at the most critical moment, two weeks away from the polls opening.
That makes three, perhaps four complaints in a few days. Could this mean more candidates or party officials are yet to be revealed?
The Labour Party, the Liberal Democrats, and others have jumped on the stories, demanding that the two candidates, where impropriety is alleged, should have already been suspended. No suspension has so far been announced by the Conservative Party.
When a candidate is suspended, they remain on the ballot paper with their party affiliation in place. Election laws do not permit the removal of a candidate from the ballot at such a late stage. Should the individual be elected in their constituency, they become a fully-fledged Member of Parliament and sit as an independent. There is then a choice by the party to reinstate them. If that does not happen, the elected MP could resign, resulting in a by-election, or continue as an independent.
Over the past four years, we have seen reports of corruption in government, MPs, and officials of several parties having the whip removed. Allegations of sexual advances, bullying, and more abounded in the period of the last government.
The party leaders try to portray themselves as guardians of their MP and say they have a low tolerance for misbehaviour. Yet, the past four years have been an unnerving number of cases.
As a new Parliament forms in early July, the Peacock Report intends to track misdemeanours across the parties, to see just how much control party leader or their chief whips maintain. Add to that party officials and civil servants and the list could be extensive.
We fully expect to be kept busy on allegations of political corruption. In fact, you can bet on it!