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The gambling scandal that has engulfed politics has severely damaged trust and voters see it as the “final nail in the coffin of the Conservative Party”.
On Tuesday night, Russell George became the fifth Conservative MP to be confirmed as being under investigation by the Gambling Commission for making suspicious bets.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has previously suspended two candidates – senior adviser Craig Williams and Laura Sanders – who were running for Welsh seats.
Williams denies any wrongdoing, but a lawyer for Sanders said he “intends to cooperate with the Gambling Commission and has nothing further to add.”
Meanwhile, the Labour Party withdrew its support for candidate Kevin Craig after betting he would not win in Central Suffolk. Mr Craig later apologised and said making the bet was a “stupid mistake”.
of I It has partnered with the think tank Demos to launch the Elections Project. Trust Watchhas been tracking the views of the 32-person panel throughout the election campaign.
When news first broke that Williams had been betting on the election date, many were outraged but not shocked.
One voter who voted Labour in 2019 said: “It is absolutely astonishing that the three people known to have placed bets on election day were doing so without any thought to the moral, ethical or legal questionable nature of the bets.”
“To me this speaks to the sense of impunity and entitlement that has permeated the Conservative party for 14 years, and the lack of intellectual talent across the organisation.”
One Conservative supporter suspected a plot to sabotage the party: “I’ve seen the betting talk and it could be a plot to disrupt the Conservative party. For the sake of democracy, let’s hope it’s not true.”
Another SNP supporter argued: “There are undoubtedly many more dodgy scandals going on behind the scenes in British politics which I believe is part of why there is a total lack of truth and transparency.”
One Labour supporter said the scandal was a “small issue in the grand scheme of things”, while another said it was “unprofessional” and showed the party “doesn’t take elections seriously”.
Another person who plans to vote Labour said: “I’ve heard that story and it made me laugh. The Conservative party and their staff have no respect for voters and are only interested in making money. The Covid pandemic has exposed that and it’s now openly clear they cannot be trusted.”
One person who voted Conservative in 2019 said: “I think this is disgraceful and has huge implications on trust – how can we trust a party whose members behave like this?”
Another Conservative supporter was slightly more optimistic: “The gambling scandal is the final nail in the coffin for the Conservative campaign but two weeks is a long time in politics. I’m looking forward to one last hurrah for the Conservatives, which could be a game changer.”
“This is another example of how dishonest humans can be. Yes, humans make mistakes, but when you’re in a position like this there must be rules and regulations you have to follow,” said one Conservative supporter.
“This is just one example of how each political party has their own agenda (and this man’s mistake came to light at a very unfortunate time), but it’s a perfect example of how trust in these parties and their actions has collapsed,” the voter said.
They added that this is confirmation of the saying that “politics is a bad/dirty game.”
One Liberal Democrat supporter on the panel said he had been following the news “closely” and believed politicians had few constraints and would “get what they want, regardless of morality”.
“It’s something I’ve vaguely heard somewhere,” said one voter who did not vote, adding: “It’s pretty much what I’ve expected from the Conservative party and to some extent most senior politicians.”
One SNP supporter in 2019 who has also been following the details of the scandal said: “Just when you thought they couldn’t get any lower, it feels like the final big nail is being driven into the Conservative party’s coffin.”
Some non-voters were unaware of the incident, with one saying it raised concerns about political culture in general. “We’ve heard about this incident and we think it’s terrible,” they added. “This violates the code of conduct for MPs. It raises even greater concerns about public trust in MPs.”
Another said: “This is nothing new. Nothing really surprising about the Conservative party, every day sucks. The ethics of the whole party need to be examined.”
The commission also delivered a summary verdict after Labour candidate Kevin Craig was suspended after it was revealed he had bet against himself as a candidate for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich.
New allegations have also emerged that police officers and senior Conservative party figures were betting on the date of the general election.
“I can’t believe so many people could do something so stupid and so obviously wrong, but this is what we have with this government,” one Labour supporter said.
“My trust in the Conservative party has been massively damaged by this election day betting scandal, where they clearly had inside information. How on earth did they think they could get away with something like that?” said one Conservative supporter.
“It’s another way of showing ordinary people that they have different rules. It really impacts trust and this is a perfect example on this issue,” said another Conservative supporter.
“This is going to make people run miles away from them rather than trust them,” said another Conservative voter in 2019, while another described the scandal as “an eye-opener”.
Sunak subsequently suspended two of the candidates involved, a move that appeared to mean little to the committee. “I’ve voted Conservative all my life but now for the first time I’m not voting Conservative. They’ve lost my trust. Whether they deal with things quickly or slowly doesn’t matter,” said one Conservative supporter.
“There’s been a lot of scandals, whether they’re exposed or not, and it doesn’t undermine my trust because I never had any in the first place,” one SNP voter said.
“If this had been an isolated incident or a series of incidents I think there would have been a bigger impact on trust, but I don’t think it will cause a loss of trust in the government or the Conservative party in particular,” said a Labour voter in 2019.
“This feels like a dying act from a party that has a huge sense of entitlement and thinks they can get away with it. It’s as if they don’t want to admit they’ve done anything wrong.”
“When it comes to Labour members, he’s basically betting that he will lose, which feels less bad than betting on something you know to be true because of inside information,” one Labour supporter said. “Betting on Labour is more stupid than criminal.”
But the Conservative supporter added: “I’m surprised by the Labour man but of course I’m not betting on when the election will be held. I think it’s a bit ridiculous but not necessarily a crime.”
Overall, the committee thought it was a positive move by Sir Keir Starmer’s swift action to suspend Craig. “It feels good because Labour suspended him straight away whereas the Conservatives oohed and ahhhed for a couple of days after at least one person admitted to his behaviour,” said one Labour supporter.
“In any other profession, if you engaged in extremely unethical or potentially criminal conduct in connection with your job you would be suspended whilst the investigation is ongoing, so I think this is appropriate,” added another.
But there were also skeptics, with some thinking the Labour leader had acted too harshly. “I think they’ve been a bit too harsh on the Labour leader, it’s a bit of an overreaction to force him out. I think he’s being victimised,” said a Conservative voter in 2019.
The Labour supporter added: “This feels like a political decision. The Conservatives haven’t acted so that we can act quickly and show we’re not like them.”