Ex-Tory campaign chief and his wife receive suspended sentences over election bets

The Conservatives' former director of campaigning and his wife have received suspended prison sentences after they admitted to cheating at gambling by placing bets on the date of the 2024 general election.

Anthony Lee used "inside information" emerging from a private meeting called by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to bet on the general election date months before it took place, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Lee and his wife Laura stood to win more than £23,000 had their cheating not been uncovered, the court heard.

Lee was sentenced to 10 months and two weeks' imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, while his wife was sentenced to four months and two weeks' imprisonment, suspended for a year.

Amy Hind, a former Tory party employee who was working as an NHS business support manager, was also sentenced to six months' imprisonment, suspended for a year, after previously pleading guilty to cheating on the date of the election.

Judge Tony Baumgartner, sentencing the three of them, said their conduct "risked undermining" the confidence the public has in the Conservative Party "as an institution", "undermining trust in the democratic process" and the "integrity of the gambling system".

The trio were among several people charged with betting offences by the Gambling Commission.

The trials of other defendants will take place next year and in 2028.

Former Conservative MP Craig Williams, who was Sunak's closest parliamentary aide at the time, pleaded guilty in June and will be sentenced at a later date.