Former Rishi Sunak aide Craig Williams pleads guilty to election betting offence

Rishi Sunak's former aide has pleaded guilty to a betting offence over the date of the 2024 general election.

Craig Williams, who was parliamentary private secretary to the then-prime minister, admitted the offence at Southwark Crown Court.

The Gambling Commission opened an investigation into Williams after he admitted placing a £100 bet on the date of the election three days before Mr Sunak announced it to the public.

As part of Mr Sunak's inner circle, Williams attended a series of planning meetings in Downing Street ahead of the 2024 election. When the scandal first broke, Williams said he had made a "huge error of judgement".

He entered his guilty plea at a hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.

Williams bet £250, £100 and £22.50 on the election date, prosecutors said.

Prosecutor Zoe Johnson KC said three further cheating charges - which Williams denies - will be dropped when he is sentenced.

She said Williams was "given a privileged position, he was party to a number of meetings in both Downing Street and Conservative headquarters when the date of the general election was discussed".

"He has now accepted by his plea that he used highly sensitive and confidential information to place bets and to profit," she said.

Williams previously served as a Conservative MP for Cardiff North, between 2015 and 2017, before losing his seat to Labour's Anna McMorrin.

He was then elected MP for Montgomeryshire in 2019 and lost his seat at the 2024 general election, in the wake of the betting scandal.

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Williams was one of 15 charged with cheating related to bets placed on the timing of the 2024 general election, alongside a Welsh Senedd member and a former police officer.

Amy Hind, the wife of Conservative deputy digital director Anthony Hind, also pleaded guilty to cheating on the date of the election. A separate charge against her husband was dropped and the remaining 12 defendants pleaded not guilty.

Hind will be sentenced in October and Williams will not be sentenced until his co-defendants have stood trial.

(c) Sky News 2026: Former Rishi Sunak aide Craig Williams pleads guilty to election betting offence