Tory MP and Rishi Sunak aide Craig Williams investigated for placing £100 bet on the election being held in July days before PM announced vote on July 4

One of Rishi Sunak's close parliamentary aides is being investigated after putting a £100 bet on the election being held in July, just days before the PM announced the July 4 vote.

Craig Williams, the Prime Minister's parliamentary private secretary, is being probed by the Gambling Commission over his 5-1 'flutter' in May.

The Tory candidate for Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr said he would co-operate with the commission over what he said were 'routine inquiries'.

'I put a flutter on the General Election some weeks ago. This has resulted in some routine inquiries and I confirm I will fully cooperate with these. I don't want it to be a distraction from the campaign. I should have thought through how it looks,' he wrote in a statement on X.

The Guardian reported Mr Williams placed a £100 with Ladbrokes from within Montgomeryshire on May 19, backing a July election. 

On May 22 Mr Sunak announced July 4 would be the date of the vote, outside No10. That would have landed Mr Williams £500. Ladbrokes raised the bet with the GC, which reportedly told No10 last week.

In a statement to the Guardian it said using 'confidential information in order to gain an unfair advantage when betting ... may constitute an offence of cheating under section 42 of the Gambling Act, which is a criminal offence.'

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's shadow paymaster general, said: 'These allegations are utterly extraordinary. Rishi Sunak has sat on this information for more than a week but has lacked any backbone to take action. Once again Rishi Sunak has been exposed as utterly weak.'

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: 'We are aware of contact between a Conservative candidate and the Gambling Commission. It is a personal matter for the individual in question.

'As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn't be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded.'