The Tory betting scandal confirms what voters already know – it’s time for change

Editorial: Candidates caught up in the betting scandal deserve to be expelled from the party – and must stand aside in the event that they are elected, for the sake of parliament

(Dave Brown)

Unsurprisingly, given the circumstances, Conservative Central Headquarters (CCHQ) has deleted a social media attack ad that featured a roulette wheel and the slogan: “If you bet on Labour, you can never win.” A peculiarly unlucky coincidence, it could be argued; yet if two Conservative parliamentary candidates hadn’t decided to place wagers on the date of the general election, then this particular scandal would have been avoided.

Although the Gambling Commission and the Cabinet Office continue to look into the people allegedly involved, the fact that one of the reported punters, Laura Saunders, is married to the party’s director of campaigns, Tony Lee, hasn’t helped matters. Indeed, the fact that Mr Lee has taken a leave of absence, particularly at this late stage in the election campaign, is both symptom and cause of the accelerated meltdown of the party’s re-election efforts.

The Gambling Commission says it is aware of a “small number” of suspicious late bets on the election date, which may mean there are other people close to CCHQ and Downing Street who are onto this nice little earner. A police officer in the prime minister’s protection team has been arrested and charged with misconduct in public office.