General election: Betting probe into Welsh Tory Russell George

A Conservative politician in the Welsh Parliament is being investigated over a bet on the general election.

Russell George is the fifth Conservative to face inquiries by the Gambling Commission.

It comes on the same day the Conservatives withdrew their support for two general election candidates, including Mr George’s colleague Craig Williams, who is standing in the newly-named constituency of Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr.

Mr George, whose seat is Montgomeryshire, said he will co-operate fully with the commission, and has “stepped back” from the Senedd’s Conservative shadow cabinet.

Mr Williams was the first Tory to admit he had placed a bet on the timing of the election and who was a parliamentary aide to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak

The BBC’s political editor Chris Mason reported that Mr George’s bet, placed online for a July election, was placed more than a week before the election was called and neither man was aware of the other’s bet.

It is not known how much Mr George bet or what the odds were.