Ex-Labour parliamentary candidate calls for politician betting ban

A Labour candidate who placed a bet on himself during the election campaign says he was “badly treated” by the party and is calling for politicians to be banned from gambling on elections.
Kevin Craig was running to become MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich when he was suspended by the Labour Party for placing a bet on himself to lose.
He has been cleared by the Gambling Commission and is now promoting a Bill to bar politicians from gambling on elections so others “do not have to endure the same fate”.
The Labour Party has since lifted his suspension. The Gambling Commission said it had closed its investigation into him.
Mr Craig’s suspension came amid a betting scandal that embroiled the Tory party around the date of the election, after five people with connections to the then prime minister Rishi Sunak were investigated by the Gambling Commission for allegedly placing election date bets. That investigation is still ongoing.
Two of those were Conservative candidates in the election, and after pressure mounting on the PM to act, the party announced on Tuesday it was withdrawing support for them.
A Labour Party spokeswoman said after being contacted by the commission the party acted immediately to administratively suspend Mr Craig pending investigation.
The row also led former Olympic rower James Cracknell, who was standing as a Conservative candidate in Colchester, to compare his party to “shower of s**t” following the party’s alleged betting scandal.
A statement from his lawyer said Mr Craig “acted lawfully” when he placed the bet and the gambling watchdog’s conclusion is a “complete and total exoneration”.
The law prohibits placing a bet with inside information, but there is no law to prevent a politician betting on the outcome of an election in general, he said.
He said the Labour candidate had no inside information, no way of knowing who would win the election, and placed frequent bets on all sorts of outcomes and events.
“It is widely recognised that some people place bets against the result they wish to happen, for example, betting against their football team. Such behaviour helps cushion the disappointment of a loss,” the lawyer said.
No investigation took place before Mr Craig’s name was disclosed and he was publicly suspended from the Labour Party, his lawyer added.
“The first Kevin Craig knew of this matter was when he was publicly suspended and that should not have happened.”
“We trust that everyone will accept Kevin Craig’s exoneration and see him as the diligent, decent and honest man that he is. He has been badly treated. He will now promote a Bill banning politicians from gambling on elections inorder that there is clarity and others do not have to endure the same fate.”
Conservative candidate Patrick Spencer won the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat in the July election.
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