The campaign chief for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives stepped aside two weeks before an election, the party says, after reports he and his candidate wife were being investigated for betting on the election date. 

The rapidly escalating gambling scandal is the latest misfortune to unfold for Mr Sunak, who is forecast to lose power on July 4 after a campaign characterised by gaffes that followed his surprise announcement of an early vote.

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The Conservative Party confirmed that campaign director Tony Lee had taken a leave of absence.

The statement followed news reports that the Gambling Commission was looking into allegations of improper betting by Mr Lee and his wife Laura Saunders, a candidate for parliament in Bristol.

British bookmakers allow bets on politics, and the timing of an election is a popular bet. But placing bets with insider knowledge is a crime.

“We have been contacted by the Gambling Commission about a small number of individuals. As the Gambling Commission is an independent body, it wouldn’t be proper to comment further, until any process is concluded,” a Conservative spokesperson said.

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The scandal has already engulfed another Conservative parliamentary candidate, Craig Williams, a close aide to Mr Sunak, who apologised last week for placing a bet on when the election would happen.