Labour candidate who bet on himself to lose says Gambling Commission “changed the result” of election
In June 2024, British businessman Kevin Craig bet £800 that he would lose his race to become an MP. Now he says the country’s gambling regulator, the Gambling Commission, “changed the result of a democratic election” by launching an investigation into his bet and for leaking it to the press.
As a result, the former Labour candidate was suspended by the party nine days before the 2024 general election.Following that the former Labour candidate was suspended by the party nine days before the 2024 general election.
He is now demanding a parliamentary inquiry into the regulator that investigated him. In his view, something is fundamentally wrong with the Commission.
“The regulator at the moment is out of control and it could do to other people what it did to me,” Craig, who is 55 and founder and chief executive of Westminster lobbying firm PLMR, told iGB in an interview.
In a campaign announced late Monday evening, he called on the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee to examine the Commission’s “efficacy and professionalism”.
“They changed the result”
His campaign claims media coverage of the investigation cost Labour the seat of Central Suffolk and North Ipswich. He lost by 4,290 votes to Conservative Patrick Spencer. The Conservatives had won the seat in 2019, under previous boundaries, by 23,391. Labour’s vote share there rose only slightly in 2024, while the party won a landslide nationally.
What does he base his accusation aginst the Commission on? “Other results in constituencies with similar demographics”, he said, and internal polling that showed him “doing extremely well”.
He did not share further details of the polling.
Craig also claims the Commission leaked the investigation. “In 2024 it accused me of cheating in writing. That accusation leaked nine days before the general election, while I was a candidate.”
When asked for proof, Craig said “That letter should have gone to me only, so how did it make its way into the media?” he said.
He warned: “The same thing could happen to any candidate at the next election – we cannot let the Gambling Commission distort our democracy in this way.”
Controversy from the get-go
Craig’s candidacy was contentious from the start. He was the only name on the shortlist, and critics accused him of buying the selection after it emerged he had given Labour £100,000.
On 25 June 2024, Labour suspended him within minutes of hearing from the Commission. He admitted betting on the Conservatives to hold the seat, saying he did so weeks earlier, when he thought he could not win, and planned to give any winnings to charity. He later said he staked £800 to win £400.
At the time, he called it a “huge mistake” and apologised unreservedly.
In December 2024, the Commission closed the case, telling him there was not sufficient evidence to meet the full code test for prosecution. Labour readmitted him.
Two years on, his interpretation is different. “After nearly six months the Commission dropped the case because it found no evidence of wrongdoing”. But by then, he said “the damage was done.”
“Betting on politics is not illegal”
In the eyes of many observers it was undoubtedly not a good look for a Labour candidate to bet on himself to lose an election. Even Craig conceded at the time that the bet was a “stupid error of judgment”. But he maintains that is nothing compared to how the Commission handled the situation: “They falsely accused me of cheating. I have never broken a rule or a regulation or a law. Betting on politics is not illegal, it never has been”.
His case was separate from the Commission’s investigation into bets on the election date, in which former Conservative MP Craig Williams pleaded guilty to cheating in June and awaits sentencing. Three others, including former party staffer Amy Hind, received suspended sentences in October. Ten more are due to stand trial in 2027 and 2028.
Who is behind the campaign?
Craig describes himself as “a lifelong horse racing enthusiast” and a football lover. “I think that the gambling industry in the UK undertakes huge social good when you look at some of our largest taxpayers”.
He says there is zero gambling industry money behind it in any way. “I am self-funding this campaign because I believe the Gambling Commission is not fit for purpose and is neglecting its statutory duties.”
An obvious question for Craig is whether the campaign is an act of revenge. “Not at all,” he told iGB. “I believe in right and wrong, and in fairness.”
He added: “Perhaps the Gambling Commission does not like being held to account, but we’ve got to have an inquiry.”
His firm is involved: PLMR senior adviser Leon Emirali is listed as the campaign’s broadcast contact. Craig denied that PLMR, or any company in its group, has had gambling operators or gambling trade bodies as clients in the past five years.
It is worth noting that the press release gives no source for its claim that the black market accounts for one in five visits to gambling sites.
Wants MPs to investigate
The release says the Culture Secretary is reviewing candidates for the Commission’s next chief executive. It wants the committee to examine whether the Commission has adequate safeguards to enforce pre-election “purdah” rules, and whether action against the illegal market gets enough attention.
It also calls for scrutiny of the Commission’s use of quasi-public funds, including whether it broke its own rules by funding lobbying and campaigning, and whether money for campaign groups has come at the expense of clinical treatment for gambling harm.
The statistical integrity of the Commission’s figures, any link between over-regulation of legal operators and black market growth, and the exemption of Commission staff from Business Appointment Rules complete the list. It does not say how a regulator should handle a candidate suspected of an offence mid-campaign.
No sensible policy without trust
“My concerns go well beyond my own case,” Craig said in his statement. “The black market has grown on the Commission’s watch, problem gambling is not going away and the industry feels let down.”
He argues that ministers and MPs cannot set sensible gambling policy if they cannot trust the regulator.
“Britain deserves a regulator that helps people with gambling addiction, treats a lawful industry fairly and doesn’t disturb the democratic process,” he said.
The Gambling Commission has been approached for comment.