General election: Top Welsh Tory backs candidate dropped over bet

Member of the Senedd (MS) for Montgomeryshire Russell George had already withdrawn from his frontbench spokesperson role as a shadow minister for mid Wales.

He has turned down a request from BBC Wales for an interview, but said he would co-operate fully with the Gambling Commission.

There have been calls for the politician – who remains a Tory MS – to be removed from the Welsh Conservative group in Cardiff Bay.

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. Mr George and Mr Williams share a constituency office in Welshpool.

Mr George’s standard Senedd salary of £72,057 was topped up with an additional salary of £14,636 for his work as chair of the health committee – coming to a total of £86,693.

The committee scrutinises the Welsh government’s health policy, and any health legislation it puts through the Senedd.