UK Labour candidate suspended after betting he would lose

Britain’s election betting scandal took a bizarre twist Tuesday night as a Labour hopeful admitted he had put a wager on himself losing.

Kevin Craig has been suspended by the opposition party as Britain’s Gambling Commission continues to probe a flurry of alleged bets placed in the run-up to the July 4 general election.

It marks the first Labour scalp in a story which has so far engulfed the Tories and electrified Britain’s election campaign.

In a statement Tuesday night, Craig — who was running for the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich seat — admitted he had bet against himself, insisted it was for charity, and said sorry to his party. Labour dropped him after being notified of a Gambling Commission investigation.

“Throughout my life I have enjoyed the odd bet for fun whether on politics or horses,” Craig said.

“A few weeks ago when I thought I would never win this seat I put a bet on the Tories to win here with the intention of giving any winnings to local charities,” he said.

“While I did not place this bet with any prior knowledge of the outcome, this was a huge mistake, for which I apologise unreservedly.”

Craig added: “I deeply regret what I have done and will take the consequences of this stupid error of judgement on the chin.”

A Labour party spokesperson said: “With Keir Starmer as leader, the Labour party upholds the highest standards for our parliamentary candidates, as the public rightly expects from any party hoping to serve, which is why we have acted immediately in this case.”

Craig’s suspension comes after days of bad headlines for Conservatives over gambling — something Labour have been keen to make hay with.

Under mounting pressure to act, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Tuesday dropped support for two Conservative candidates who are being probed by the Commission over alleged insider bets placed on the timing of the election.

Under the U.K. system, the timing of the snap election was down to the prime minister — and advance knowledge would have been kept to a tight circle.

Other Tory figures are under investigation by the watchdog, as are police officers.

A YouGov poll out Tuesday found just 16 percent of those asked think Sunak has handled the row either “very” or “fairly” well.

By contrast, 60 percent say he’s handled it either “fairly” or “very” badly.

Just hours ago Labour were urging Sunak to “come clean” and tell the public how many Tories are implicated in the scandal.