Minister who bet on election in line for peerage

A former Conservative cabinet minister who admitted placing three bets on the date of the 2024 general election is set to be awarded a seat in the House of Lords.

Sir Alister Jack, who served as Scottish Secretary under Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, is expected to be given a peerage in Sunak's resignation honours list.

He has previously said he did not breach any rules and has not been investigated by the Gambling Commission. He declined to comment on whether he is to receive a peerage.

Sir Alister was the most senior politician caught up in the row over government insiders gambling on the general election date.

The election was held on 4 July, earlier than many at Westminster had expected.

In April 2024, Sir Alister placed a successful bet that the election date would fall between July and September - after losing two similar bets in March.

Sir Alister, who stood down as an MP in 2024, received a knighthood in Rishi Sunak's previous round of honours in July 2024 but was not awarded a peerage as had been expected.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "We do not comment on speculation on honours as a matter of longstanding principle. Any updates would be announced in the normal way."

Members of the Lords are called "peers" and are unelected. Like MPs, they scrutinise the work of government and recommend changes to proposed legislation.

They receive a daily tax-free allowance of £361 plus travel expenses.

Most are nominated by party leaders and are vetted by the House of Lords Appointments Commission.

The government is attempting to remove the remaining 92 hereditary peers from the House of Lords whose presence it has described as "outdated and indefensible".

The general election betting scandal led to the Conservatives withdrawing support from two candidates and Labour suspending a candidate who admitted betting that he would lose his bid to become an MP.

The former Labour candidate, Kevin Craig, has since been cleared by the Gambling Commission after an investigation.

A police officer working in Rishi Sunak's close protection team was suspended by the Metropolitan Police and arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office.

In August 2024, the Metropolitan Police ended its investigation into the election betting scandal without bringing charges.

The Gambling Commission is continuing its probe into whether the law on using confidential information to gain an unfair advantage was broken.

A number of police officers and at least one politician are reported to be under investigation by the regulator, but it has declined to comment.