Rishi Sunak under Labour pressure for backing Tory candidates despite alleged election date bets

Rishi Sunak came under pressure on Thursday to sever links with two Tory candidates being looked into by the Gambling Commission who are under investigation for allegedly placing bets on the election timing ahead of his shock announcement that he was going for a vote on July 4.

It emerged that one of the Tories being looked into by the Gambling Commission — Bristol North West candidate Laura Saunders — previously worked at Conservative Campaign HQ (CCHQ) and is married to the party’s director of campaigns, Tony Lee.