Whatever the sums involved, the election betting scandal will linger in public’s minds

Before Sunak announced the July election on 22 May, few had expected a date to be set before the summer. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

When Rishi Sunak, Britain’s Conservative prime minister, called a snap election in the pouring rain last month, he would have hoped his party would have closed at least some of the 20-point deficit in the opinion polls.

Instead, it seems the only members of his party who have profited since are some of his Downing street aides – in a political betting scandal that has swiftly reinforced prevailing anti-Conservative stereotypes in the British public’s imagination.