Craig Williams: Ex-MP pleads guilty over general election offence
Craig Williams admitted using confidential information to place bets on the timing of the 2024 general election
Craig Williams admitted using confidential information to place bets on the timing of the 2024 general election
A former Conservative MP and aide to Rishi Sunak has pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling after placing bets on the date of the 2024 general election.
Craig Williams, 41, who was Tory MP for Cardiff North between 2015 and 2017 and then Montgomeryshire between 2019 and 2024, admitted using confidential information to place bets on the timing of the poll.
He was formerly part of Mr Sunak’s inner circle, having been appointed to be the then-Prime Minister’s parliamentary private secretary before attending a series of planning meetings in Downing Street ahead of the 2024 election.
Williams, of Llanfair Caereinion, Welshpool, Powys, entered his guilty plea at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court earlier today.
The court heard how Williams bet £250, £100, and £22.50 on the election date. When the scandal first broke, he admitted making a “huge error of judgment” when confronted over a £100 bet.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said three further cheating charges, which Williams denies, will be dropped when he is sentenced.
She said Williams, a member of the Privy Council, was "given a privileged position, he was party to a number of meetings in both Downing Street and Conservative headquarters when the date of the general election was discussed".
Ms Johnson told the court: “He has now accepted by his plea that he used highly sensitive and confidential information to place bets and to profit."
Amy Hind, 35, the wife of Conservative deputy digital director Anthony Hind, also pleaded guilty to cheating on the date of the election.
She had placed bets of £10, £5, and £20 on the date of the election, before on May 13, 2024 attempting to stake £767 and £700 on a July poll.
Those attempts failed, the court heard, and she attempted to place a £700 bet the following day before successfully placing a £100 bet on a July election, at odds of 11-1.
A separate charge against her husband, 37, that he had cheated at gambling by passing information to his wife was then dropped by prosecutors.
Hind is due to be sentenced by Judge Tony Baumgartner, the Recorder of Westminster, on October 23. Williams will not be sentenced until co-defendants have stood trial.
However, 12 other co-defendants pleaded not guilty to cheating at gambling in relation to bets on the 2024 election. Trials have been set for September 2027 and January 2028.
The criminal charges were brought by the Gambling Commission after Operation Scott was launched to investigate gambling by politicians and employees of the Conservative Party in the lead-up to the 2024 general election.
Among those to deny the charges are Russell George, 52, who was a member of the Senedd for Montgomeryshire, and Thomas James, 39, who was the director of the Welsh Conservatives.
Jeremy Hunt, 56, who was a close protection officer at the Met and part of the police team working in Downing Street, was also charged.
Co-defendants are Anthony Lee, 49, a Conservative Party director of campaigning, and his wife, Laura Saunders, 38, who was head of international at Tory HQ and the parliamentary candidate for Bristol North West.
Mr Lee faces two charges, alleging he placed bets himself and passed confidential information to his wife to allegedly help her to cheat at gambling.
Tory Party officials Nick Mason, 52, the chief data officer; Iain Makepeace, 48, head of design and print; his boss, Simon Chatfield, 52, who was chief marketing officer, and deputy director of insights James Ward, 41, have also been charged.
Co-defendants are also Paul Place, 55, a consultant employed by the Conservative Party, political strategist and former parliamentary candidate Charlotte Lang, 37, and Jacob Willmer, 40, the brother of Conservative Party deputy chief of staff Toby Willmer.
Judge Baumgartner has set trials to start on September 6 2027 and January 3, 2028.