Will punishing the bookies deter our gambling politicians? Don’t bet on it

Amid more allegations about the betting habits of senior Tories – and now a Labour candidate too – the odds are favouring a wipeout which could include some very famous casualties, writes James Moore

The betting scandal that has engulfed Westminster has led to calls for changes to the rules around gambling for politicians (PA Wire)

What is surprising to me about the seemingly never ending political betting scandal is that it’s taken such a long time to emerge.

Just look at the behaviour we’ve witnessed in Westminster and Whitehall over the last few years: boozing – including at Downing Street parties during lockdown, sexual harassment, MPs looking at porn in the chamber, to name just a handful of examples. Is anyone really surprised that a few of our elected representatives fancy a bit of a flutter from time to time?

Politics is a high stakes game, and parliament is full of highly ambitious, type-A personalities who like making rules for other people but don’t think they should have to follow them. Quite a few of these people seemingly like to bet.