UP TO 15 Tories are now being investigated in the insider betting scandal, it emerged today.

According to BBC Newsnight, the Gambling Commission is looking at 15 candidates and senior officials in their inquiry into bets placed on the election date.

The Tory Party itself “could not confirm how many of their officials or candidates might be facing scrutiny.”

Two Conservative candidates have already been suspended and two top campaign organisers have been placed on leave of absence because of the probe, which has also caught up several police in the Premier’s security detail.

The latest Tory to be compromised is Welsh shadow cabinet member Russell George, who “stepped back” from his responsibilities after being advised that the Gambling Commission was investigating him.

The only good news was that Welsh Tory leader Andrew Davies was able to assure the world that “all other members of the Welsh Conservative group have confirmed that they have not placed any bets.”

Labour has become embroiled too, with its candidate in Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Kevin Craig suspended after admitting that he had bet against himself winning the seat.

Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader, claimed that this was a very different matter: “It’s materially different to the Tory being investigated.

“It’s one thing to use insider information about the date of the election. It’s different to bet against yourself.”

He gave himself a pat on the back for having acted swiftly to drop Mr Craig in contrast to PM Rishi Sunak’s endless temporising over the wagering Tories.

In other gambling news, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey confessed to having twice had a flutter on his party in past elections, but to never having placed bet on himself, showing that while he may act daft he is not completely without judgment.

And sex joined greed in the election vice stakes with the announcement that a member of the Labour Party in Islington, north London, has been arrested in connection with the Westminster “honeytrap” scandal.

This involved efforts to entrap politicians and others working in Parliament into indiscretions of one kind or another.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed that it had detained a man in his twenties on suspicion of harassment and online safety offences.

Labour announced that the member in question had also been suspended from the party but was unable to comment further.