RISHI Sunak said he is not “aware” of any other Tory candidates being investigated for election bets.
The Prime Minister said “of course” this meant he and his family had not done so – as he is standing in the election.
GettyRishi Sunak speaking to reporters on the campaign trail[/caption]
Sir Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak will be grilled by our Political Editor Harry Cole and Sun readers
He also revealed he has never bet on politics – despite MPs being allowed to do so as long as they are not cheating.
His comments came as he took questions from reporters on the campaign trail ahead of tonight’s explosive Never Mind the Ballots: Election Showdown.
Both he and Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer will face tough questions from Sun readers starting at 5.30pm.
The PM has been trying to shift the narrative away from the scandal but his hopes were crushed yesterday when the party’s chief data officer Nick Mason became the fourth Tory investigated by the Gambling Commission for allegedly putting a flutter on the timing of the election.
It is also understood the watchdog has widened its inquiries to investigate whether party insiders used third parties to place bets.
Sources claim the Gambling Commission has identified more persons of interest — on top of officials Tony Lee and Mr Mason, who have taken leave, and candidates Craig Williams and Laura Saunders.
The latter pair are still on the election campaign trail as official Tory parliamentary hopefuls.
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Mr Sunak has faced criticism for not suspending them, with even former defence minister Tobias Ellwood this morning demanding he takes action.
The PM this morning insisted his party “will act” if the Conservatives’ own parallel inquiry into the alleged betting scandal finds wrongdoing.
He said: “The Gambling Commission is independent of Government – it’s independent of me.
“I don’t have the details of their investigation, right? They don’t report to me, I don’t have the details, but what I can tell you is, in parallel we’ve been conducting our own internal inquiries and of course will act on any relevant findings or information from that and pass it on to the Gambling Commission.”
He added: “What I can tell you is I am not aware of any other candidate that they are looking at.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris also earlier rejected calls including from within Tory ranks for those facing an investigation to have the party whip withdrawn while the probe is ongoing.
The Cabinet Minister – who is not standing in the election – accused Labour of trying to put “undue influence” on the Gambling Commission to reveal details of its investigation.
He told Times Radio: “It’s not confirming or denying the identity of any individuals concerned and it’s right that it has an investigation, it’s an independent body.
“I actually think I saw that the leader of Labour’s campaign Pat McFadden wrote to try and put some undue influence on the Gambling Commission over the weekend, I think that is actually pretty concerning in itself, Labour trying to lean on yet another independent body like it lent on the Speaker of the House of Commons not to have a vote on Gaza.
“And I think people are beginning to see what a Labour government would actually be like in the United Kingdom.”
In February, Labour denied that it warned Sir Lindsay Hoyle he would lose the party’s support for him continuing as Speaker after a general election if he did not allow a vote on its amendment to an SNP motion on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.