Two former government personnel plead guilty to General Election betting offences

The Gambling Commission has confirmed that former government personnel Craig Williams and Amy Hind have pleaded guilty to offences of cheating contrary to the Gambling Act of 2005, having used confidential information to wager on the date of the 2024 General Election. 

Williams served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister and was previously sworn in as a member of the King's Privy Council, while Hind worked for the NHS as a Business Support Manager and with the Conservative Party in various roles. 

Through his position, Williams attended various meetings with the Prime Minister and senior staff at Conservative Central Headquarters where the date of the General Election had been discussed. Hind placed bets on the 2024 General Election with the benefit of confidential information as to when the Election would be called.

Prior to the date being announced, “various gambling operators” began offering special markets on when the 2024 General Election would be held, described as a market “not to be abused by those with inside information.”

The Gambling Commission stated: “These two defendants placed bets themselves. In doing so, they cheated. They did so by using confidential and sensitive information about the date of the 2024 General Election in order to profit.”

Hind will be sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 23 October, while Williams is set to be sentenced at a “later date.” 

While Williams and Hind admitted to the offences, the trials of 12 remaining defendants are set to take place in September 2027 and January 2028. 

The Gambling Commission published new research and accompanying insights from Amandeep Manku, Senior Research and Statistics Analyst, on the impacts of gambling harm on 26 June. 

The recent Gambling Survey for Great Britain found that out of the 9% of those surveyed who were reportedly affected by someone else's gambling, 63% of these had gambled themselves in the past 12 months.