UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said he is "not aware" of any other Tory candidates facing investigation by the gambling watchdog over allegations of betting on the general election.
The prime minister said the Conservatives had been carrying out their own internal probe running alongside the inquiry and "will act" if it finds any wrongdoing over the scandal that has engulfed the party.
With the Tories still behind in the polls and after a bruising few days dominated by the controversy, Sunak is facing pressure including from the party ranks to take a more robust stance against those involved.
The Gambling Commission does not "talk about the individuals that they are investigating," the prime minister told journalists on the campaign trail in Edinburgh on Monday.
"What I can tell you is I am not aware of any other candidate that they are looking at." He added: "What I can tell you is, in parallel, we've been conducting our own internal inquiries and of course will act on any relevant findings or information from that and pass it on to the Gambling Commission." Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the revelation that the Tories are conducting their own parallel investigation was designed to delay further fallout over the controversy.
Sunak ruled out himself and family members of being the subject of investigation and said he had never placed a bet on politics while serving as a member of parliament.
The faltering Conservative campaign has been plunged into a deeper crisis by the gambling controversy, over which four Tory officials and candidates are being investigated.
The party's chief data officer Nick Mason is the latest figure understood to be taking a leave of absence amid claims he placed bets on the election date, along with director of campaigning Tony Lee.
Lee's would-be MP wife Laura Saunders and fellow candidate Craig Williams, who was a parliamentary aide to the prime minister, are also under investigation by the Gambling Commission.
Facing questions from broadcasters on Monday morning, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris rejected calls, including from within Tory ranks, for those facing a probe to have party backing withdrawn while it is ongoing.
"I think what you're trying to suggest is that someone is guilty until they're proven innocent and that is not how this works," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme, when asked why tougher action had not been taken.
Former defence minister Tobias Ellwood on Monday joined a growing chorus of senior Tory voices calling for the prime minister to take action.
Source: Qatar Tribune
