Whatever the sums involved, the election betting scandal will linger in public’s minds

The suggestion that Tories and their associates used insider knowledge to enrich themselves is unlikely to help Sunak narrow the gap in the polls

When Rishi Sunak, Britain's Conservative prime minister, called a snap election in the pouring rain last month, he would have hoped his party would have closed at least some of the 20-point deficit in the opinion polls.

Instead, it seems the only members of his party who have profited since are some of his Downing street aides - in a political betting scandal that has swiftly reinforced prevailing anti-Conservative stereotypes in the British public's imagination.