- author, David Dean
- role, BBC Wales News Political Reporter
-
A Conservative politician in the Welsh Assembly is under investigation over bets made on the timing of the general election.
Russell George is the fifth Conservative MP to be investigated by the Gambling Commission.
The announcement came the same day that the Conservative party withdrew its support for two general election candidates, including Craig Williams, a colleague of George’s who was standing in the newly named Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr constituency.
Mr George, from Montgomeryshire, said he would co-operate fully with the committee and had “stepped back” as the Conservative leader in the House of Lords.
The Labour Party and Plaid Cymru have called for Mr George to be expelled from the Conservative Senedd faction.
Mr Williams, who served as parliamentary aide to Chancellor Rishi Sunak, became the first Conservative member to admit making bets on the timing of elections.
It is unclear how much George bet or what the odds were.
Mr George had urged voters to support his colleague Mr Williams despite the Conservative Party’s decision on Tuesday to withdraw his support from the party.
“It may seem old-fashioned, but I believe someone should be innocent until proven guilty,” he said at the time.
Mr George’s constituency was also represented at Westminster by Mr Williams before the dissolution of the British Parliament.
He was a Conservative frontbench party spokesman for Mid Wales.
In a statement after the Guardian reported the matter, George said: “We will cooperate fully with the Gambling Commission but it is not appropriate to comment on this independent and confidential process.”
“Doing so would only jeopardise and undermine the investigation. It is the Gambling Commission, not the media, that has the responsibility, powers and resources to properly investigate these matters and determine what action should be taken.”
“I have stepped back from the Shadow Cabinet whilst the investigation continues. I have done so because I do not want to cause unnecessary disruption to their work.”
Welsh Conservative senator Andrew R. T. Davies said he had been informed by Mr George that he had “received a letter from the Gambling Commission regarding a bet relating to the timing of the general election”.
Mr Davies added: “Other Welsh Conservative MPs [Senedd] The group confirmed that it had not placed any bets.”
Jessica Morden, Welsh Labour’s campaign chair, said: “It took Rishi Sunak almost two weeks to take action against one of the Conservative candidates.”
“How long will it take for Andrew R.T. Davies to suspend Russell George?”
Pride’s Mabon ap Gwynfor said: “This is no myth. Just hours after endorsing Craig Williams, who was removed from the running after a separate betting scandal, Russell George was found to have done the exact same thing.”
“He should be immediately stripped of his party leadership by the Welsh Conservative Senedd group.”
Earlier in the day, the Conservative Party confirmed it had withdrawn its support for Mr Williams and Bristol North West candidate Laura Sanders.
Both will appear on the ballot but could be independents if elected, pending the outcome of the investigation.
Two Conservative staff have also been placed on administrative leave after it emerged they were under investigation by the Gambling Commission.
In a video statement posted to X, Williams said his commitment to the election remains unchanged.
“I made an error of judgment, I did not commit a crime,” he said, adding, “I would like to apologize again directly.”
“I have fully cooperated with the Gambling Commission’s rolling investigation and intend to clear my name,” he said.
A spokesman for Mr Sanders said last week that he would cooperate with the Gambling Commission and had nothing further to add.
