POLITICAL parties queued up to criticise one of Rishi Sunak’s closest parliamentary aides yesterday after he placed a £100 bet on a July general election.

Craig Williams, who served as the Prime Minister’s parliamentary private secretary, is the Conservative candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr and admitted to betting on when the election would occur.

Mr Williams was the MP for Montgomery before the election was called.

A Gambling Commission spokesman said: “If someone uses confidential information to gain an unfair advantage, this may constitute an offence of cheating under the Gambling Act, which is a criminal offence.”

Labour’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth described what had happened as “utterly extraordinary.”

Speaking on the BBC’s Panorama programme Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said that he thought Sir Keir Starmer is going to be prime minister in four weeks’ time and joked he would “put a fiver” on him being the next prime minister.