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Ex-Tory campaign chief pleads guilty over election bet

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CitrixNews Staff
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Ex-Tory campaign chief pleads guilty over election bet
Anthony Lee and Laura Lee.Image caption,

Anthony Lee and his wife Laura pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Thursday

ByJoe PikePolitical correspondent
  • Published10 September 2026, 11:52 BST
Updated 3 minutes ago

The Conservatives' former director of campaigning and his wife have pleaded guilty to cheating at gambling by placing bets on the date of the 2024 general election.

Anthony Lee passed confidential information to his wife Laura Lee about when former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was planning to call the general election.

Laura Lee, who was a parliamentary candidate at the time, then placed bets on the date of the general election.

On Thursday at Southwark Crown Court, Anthony Lee pleaded guilty to two offences and Laura Lee pleaded guilty to one offence. They will be sentenced in October.

Former MP Craig Williams, who was Sunak's closest parliamentary aide at the time, pleaded guilty in June. He will be sentenced at a later date.

The trials of 10 other defendants will take place in September 2027 and January 2028.

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Originally reported by BBC News. Read the full story at the original source.