Conservative Campaign Chief and Wife Plead Guilty Over Election-Date Bets

Anthony Lee, the Conservative Party’s Director of Campaigning during the 2024 general election, and his wife Laura Lee pleaded guilty on September 10, 2026 to cheating offences under the Gambling Act 2005 after betting on the timing of the election using confidential information, the UK Gambling Commission announced.

In an enforcement update published the same day, the Commission said Anthony Lee pleaded guilty to two offences of cheating, contrary to section 42(1)(a) and section 42(1)(b) of the Gambling Act 2005. Laura Lee, formerly Laura Saunders, pleaded guilty to one offence of cheating under section 42(1)(a). Cheating under section 42 of the Act is a criminal offence.

Then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the July 4, 2024 general election date to the public on May 22, 2024. There was significant planning for a July 4 election in advance of the announcement, taking place at 10 Downing Street and among staff at Conservative Campaign Headquarters, according to the Commission.

A number of gambling operators ran special markets on when the general election would be held in the period before the date was made public, the Commission said. “This was not a market to be abused by those with inside information as to when the election would be held,” the regulator said.

Senior Roles at Campaign Headquarters

Anthony Lee was the Conservative Party’s Director of Campaigning. The Commission said that senior position made him party to highly sensitive discussions about the timing of the general election, held at Conservative Campaign Headquarters and involving senior party staff. According to the regulator, he did not keep that information confidential: he used it to place bets and shared it with his wife.

Laura Lee was Head of International for the Conservative Party and stood as the party’s candidate for Bristol North-West at the 2024 general election. The Commission said she placed bets on the election with the benefit of confidential information passed to her by her husband about when the election would be called.

Earlier Guilty Pleas

Craig Williams and Amy Hind pleaded guilty to cheating offences under section 42(1)(a) of the Gambling Act 2005 on June 29, 2026. The Commission said both defendants placed bets themselves, using confidential and sensitive information about the date of the 2024 general election in order to profit.

Williams became Parliamentary Private Secretary to Sunak in October 2022 and was sworn in as a member of the King’s Privy Council in November 2023. He served as the MP for Montgomeryshire, a constituency in Wales, from December 2019 until the dissolution of Parliament in May 2024. The Commission said his privileged position gave him access to meetings with the Prime Minister and senior staff at Conservative Central Headquarters during which the election date was discussed, and that he sought to profit from the information instead of keeping it secret.

Hind worked for the NHS as a Business Support Manager and had previously worked for the Conservative Party in various roles. The Commission said she placed bets on the 2024 general election with the benefit of confidential information passed to her about when the election would be called.

Investigation and Charges

The Commission opened its investigation in June 2024, focusing on individuals suspected of using confidential information, specifically advance knowledge of the proposed election date, to gain an unfair advantage in betting markets. On April 14, 2025, the regulator charged 15 people with offences under the Gambling Act 2005 in connection with bets placed on the timing of the election.

Those charged included Anthony Lee, listed by the Commission as 47, of Bristol, and Laura Saunders, 37, of Bristol, alongside Williams and Hind. The 15 were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 13, 2025.

Under sections 27 and 28 of the Gambling Act, the Commission has the authority to investigate offences and bring criminal prosecutions where appropriate. The regulator said the case is led by it and is separate from a previous independent Metropolitan Police investigation, which was discontinued.

Anthony Lee, Laura Lee and Hind are due to be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on October 23, 2026. Williams will be sentenced at a later date. The trials of the 10 remaining defendants will take place in September 2027 and January 2028, according to the Commission.