Former Conservative MP Craig Williams and former Conservative Party staffer Amy Hind have pleaded guilty to cheating offences under the Gambling Act 2005 after placing bets on the date of the 2024 UK general election using confidential information.
The guilty pleas were entered today in relation to offences contrary to Section 42(1)(a) of the Gambling Act 2005.
Both defendants admitted using privileged knowledge of the election date before it was publicly announced to place bets with gambling operators.
The case centres on wagers placed ahead of then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s surprise announcement on 22 May 2024 that the general election would be held on 4 July 2024.
Betting markets had been offered by various operators allowing customers to speculate on when the election would be called, which were exploited by a total of 15 people according to the Gambling Commission.
The news broke last April, and prior to that the individuals had been investigated and later not charged by the Metropolitan Police.
Those charged alongside Williams and Hind were:
- Simon Chatfield
- Russell George
- Anthony Hind
- Thomas James
- Charlotte Lang
- Anthony Lee
- Iain Makepeace
- Nick Mason
- Paul Place
- Laura Saunders
- James Ward
- Jeremy Hunt
- Jacob Wilmer
The charge against Anthony Hind, Amy Hind’s husband and the Conservative Deputy Digital Director, has reportedly been dropped by prosecutors.
How Williams and Hind manipulated general election markets
The Commission said Williams and Hind had used “confidential and sensitive information” to gain an unfair advantage.
“This was not a market to be abused by those with inside information as to when the General Election would be held,” the Commission said.
“These two defendants placed bets themselves. In doing so, they cheated. They did so by using confidential and sensitive information about the date of the 2024 general election in order to profit.”
Williams served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to PM Sunak from October 2022 and was sworn into the King’s Privy Council in November 2023.
He was also the Conservative MP for Montgomeryshire from December 2019 until Parliament was dissolved ahead of the 2024 general election.
The Commission said Williams’ role gave him access to discussions involving the Prime Minister and senior Conservative Campaign Headquarters staff, where the election date was being planned before its public announcement.
“As a result of his privileged position Craig Williams attended various meetings with the Prime Minister and senior staff at Conservative Central Headquarters during which the date of the general election was discussed,” the regulator said.
“This was highly sensitive and confidential information but instead of keeping it secret Craig Williams sought to profit from it.”
Amy Hind, who worked as an NHS Business Support Manager at the time of the investigation, had previously held several roles within the Conservative Party.
Hind placed election bets after receiving confidential information about the timing of the election call.
“Amy Hind placed bets on the 2024 general election with the benefit of confidential information passed to her about when that election would be called,” the regulator said.
Williams and Hind will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on a date yet to be confirmed.
The wider criminal case remains ongoing, with 12 of the remaining defendants who deny the allegations scheduled to stand trial in two phases, beginning in September 2027 and continuing in January 2028.
Despite the occasinoal controversy, political betting remains a popular market in the UK.
A recent by-election which saw former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham return to parliament became the most-matched by-election in the history of the Betfair Exchange, for example.
