TLDR
- Kevin Craig wants Parliament to investigate the UK Gambling Commission.
- He bet £800 that he would lose his 2024 election race.
- Labour suspended him nine days before the vote, and he lost by 4,290 votes.
- The regulator dropped its case in December 2024 without charges.
- Craig claims the commission leaked details and cost him his seat.
Kevin Craig, a former Labour candidate who bet against himself in the 2024 UK general election, wants Parliament to investigate the country’s gambling regulator. He is calling for a review of the Gambling Commission’s conduct, spending and use of data.
Craig, 55, made the demand in an interview with iGaming Business published on Wednesday, November 11. He claims the regulator’s actions, not his own wager, cost him a seat in Parliament.
“The regulator at the moment is out of control,” Craig said. He warned that other political candidates could face the same treatment.
The commission closed its case against Craig in December 2024 without bringing charges. He is now asking lawmakers to turn their attention to the regulator itself.
The Push for an Inquiry
Craig is the founder and CEO of the lobbying firm PLMR. He says he is personally funding a campaign to get lawmakers to act. His proposed inquiry covers several areas of the regulator’s work.
He wants the Culture, Media and Sport Committee to examine how the Gambling Commission has behaved. The proposed inquiry would also look at the regulator’s spending and its approach to illegal gambling.
Craig also wants the committee to review how the commission uses statistics when making policy. He argues the regulator interfered with the democratic process during the 2024 election.
He has accused the commission of leaking confidential correspondence about its investigation to the media. The leak claim is one of the issues he wants the committee to consider.
How the Bet Unfolded
Craig stood for Labour in the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency. He bet £800 that the Conservatives would keep the seat, a wager that could have won him £400.
He said he placed the bet weeks earlier because he thought he had little chance of winning. He also said he planned to give any winnings to charity and had no inside information.
Labour suspended Craig on June 25, 2024, nine days before the election. The move came after the Gambling Commission told the party it was investigating his bet.
At the time, Craig apologized without reservation. He called the bet a stupid error of judgment, but also described it as “a bit of fun.”
Labour withdrew its support, but Craig stayed on the ballot because nominations had already closed. He lost to Conservative Patrick Spencer by 4,290 votes, the same outcome he had bet on.
The investigation ended five months later. The commission found there was not enough evidence to meet the threshold for prosecution, and Craig was later readmitted to Labour.
Craig now argues that the investigation, not his bet, decided the result. He told iGaming Business that internal polling showed him performing strongly before the controversy began, but he gave no figures to back this up.
His case was separate from the wider 2024 election betting scandal. That probe involved people linked to the Conservative Party who were suspected of betting on the election date using confidential information.
Former Conservative politician Craig Williams was among those who pleaded guilty to cheating in June 2026. His plea was connected to that wider investigation.
