Lord Carlile tells Craig Williams to explain election bet

Lord Carlile, who served as MP for the constituency for 14 years, says Mr Williams needs to clarify what he knew when he placed the bet in order to to avoid an “absurd” situation going into the General Election.

He said that should he fail to do so and that the Gambling Commission presents evidence of wrongdoing, he could face a recall petition shortly after the election. He said by clarifying that he did not have prior knowledge of the election date his role would be clarified when voters go to the polls.

“As a former MP for Montgomeryshire I know that the relationship between the electors in Montgomeryshire and the MP depends on trust,” said Lord Carlile.

“I was taught that by the late Emlyn Hooson when I was a very young man.

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“It has always seemed to me to be part of the very important bond between the local MP and the very well-informed electors of Montgomeryshire.

“In order that they can be properly informed, I believe Craig Williams must give a truthful answer before the election as to whether he made the bet when he already knew that there was going to be an election in July."

Lord Carlile, who sits as a respected cross-bench peer in the House of Lords, said that his view was not based on political partisanship.

“I was left in a state of shock,” he said. “The very thought of an MP, who is standing for election would go into a betting office or make a bet online in relation to that election.

“This is not a party-political point, I am speaking as a lawyer who has done election cases, who happens to be a devoted former MP for Montgomeryshire.

“I know that people like Clement Davies MP, Emlyn Hooson QC MP and myself would be or are horrified by suggestion.

“It has to be resolved before the election it is not fair to the other candidates whatever party they represent to be faced with this situation.”

Lord Carlile said that he “knew and liked Mr Williams personally” but said that if he continued and had bet on the election with prior knowledge that it would be “absurd” for the Conservative Party to still put him forward as a candidate.

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“If someone is elected as an MP and afterwards there is an inquiry into a piece of insider dealing, if it happened in a betting office then that MP would almost certainly face very serious sanctions within Parliament,” said Lord Carlile.

“It is quite possible we could end up having a by-election. The Gambling Commission is investigating if there is a possibility of an offence under the Gambling Act, which is punishable with by a maximum of two years imprisonment.

“The Electoral Commission would certainly be very concerned. There might be an electoral petition after the General Election which could go to the relevant election court and a judge might provide sanctions which may force a by-election.

“Unless he answers the question and the answer to the question is no, it leaves in the air a horrible potential stain.

“This is not why Montgomeryshire should be in the news. Montgomeryshire should be in the news because it is a fine and beautiful constituency with issues that need to be addressed by whatever government we have.

“We should be discussing important policy issues not something that was a piece of foolish behaviour by any view by a sitting local MP.”