If you’re going to fleece a bookies, it would be wise to ask a friend to place the bet on your behalf, or do it with cash down the local Coral. Craig Williams didn’t. The Gambling Commission is investigating the Prime Minister’s parliamentary private secretary after he placed a bet on the date of the election – three days before his boss called it. Williams’s online bet was flagged as suspicious, which, in his words, has resulted in ‘some routine inquiries’. What’s worse, he only put £100 on at 5/1. It barely seems worth it.

Political betting is not big business. Only £426,000 has been placed on the outcome of the next general election through Betfair Exchange, while around £300 million is put on the Grand National each year. There is a theory that........

© The Spectator