Tory who placed bet on losing his seat says it was 'perfectly acceptable thing to do'

A TORY who placed a bet that he will lose his Bradford district seat has said it was a "perfectly acceptable thing to do".

According to The Sun newspaper, Philip Davies bet £8,000 against himself holding the marginal Shipley constituency in the General Election, which takes place next Thursday.

Mr Davies, a self-confessed "keen better", told the Telegraph & Argus he was "fighting hard" to win the seat but said he fears he will lose based on polling.

The politician, who has represented Shipley in Parliament since 2005, said he had not broken any rules or laws.

He added that if he does lose the constituency, winning the bet would be a "small consolation".

Asked by the T&A to respond to concerns constituents may have over the issue, Mr Davies said: "I don't know what people are unhappy about in particular, to be honest with you.

"I'm fighting hard to win the election, I want to win the election, but I fear I'm going to lose - that's not based on any inside information or anything like that, it's based on every single poll that's come out since day one of the campaign.

"I thought I was going to lose the 2005 election because a poll came out two days before saying the Labour candidate was five points ahead of me - I put a bet on me losing that election as well.

"Fortunately I won - but my bet went down the pan.

"I'd very much like to think this bet will go down the pan as well.

"If I lose, at least I'll have a small consolation.

"But my aim throughout this campaign has been to bust a gut to win - and that's what I'm going to keep on trying to do."

He added: "What I've done isn't against any rules, it's not against the law - it's a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

"If Parliament wants to pass a law saying candidates can't bet in elections, then that's fine, and obviously I'd abide by it.

"But such a law doesn't exist currently.

"I've had probably 15 emails from constituents about this today, and I've told them exactly what I've told you."

Other General Election candidates in the Shipley constituency are Simon Dandy (Reform UK); Anna Louise Dixon (Labour Party); Will Grant (Yorkshire Party); Waqas Ali Khan (Workers Party); Darryl Neale Morton-Wright (Christian Peoples Alliance); Nagbea (Independent); Graham Richard Reed (Liberal Democrats); Paul Shkurka (Social Democratic Party); Kevin Robert Warnes (Green Party).