A protection officer working for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been arrested on suspicion of placing bets on the timing of Britain’s general election, which recently came months earlier than expected, police said on Wednesday.
The Metropolitan Police, which oversees London affairs, said in a statement that the officer had been relieved of his operational duties and was arrested on Monday “on suspicion of misconduct in public office.” Police added that the unnamed officer had been released on bail “pending further enquiries”.
News of the arrest comes a week after Mr Sunak’s parliamentary aide, Conservative lawmaker Craig Williams, apologized for betting on the timing of the election ahead of the July 4 date being officially announced.
“I was uneasy about the election a few weeks ago,” Williams, who is running for re-election on the July 4th ballot, wrote on social media. He pointed out that the Gambling Commission, which regulates the British gambling industry, is investigating. “I confirm that I will fully cooperate with these,” he said.
“I don’t want it to distract from the campaign,” he added. “I should have thought carefully about how it looked.”
According to British election rules, Sunak has the right to decide the date of the general election, provided that the time he chooses is before late January next year. The Prime Minister has said on several occasions that he expects an election to be held in the second half of this year.
Most political analysts said they believed Mr Sunak would wait until the autumn to face voters to give the economy more time to recover and give him time to try to start implementing his flagship immigration policy of sending some asylum seekers to the United States.
Sunak’s choice of July 4th surprised most observers.
In a statement about the latest case, the Metropolitan Police said they had been contacted by the Gambling Commission on Friday about bets placed by an officer from the Crown and Specialist Protection Command.
The command is part of the Metropolitan Police, and members often work closely with the Prime Minister and the Royal Family and must maintain discretion.
The Met said it had referred the matter to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, which oversees the complaints system in England and Wales and investigates the most serious issues related to police officer conduct.
