London: It seems that British Prime Minister Theresa May was not the only one who ‘lost big’ in the UK polls. A gambler lost a whopping 70,000 pounds betting on a Tory majority, believing the election was “unlosable” for Ms May.
British bookmaker William Hill took the wager from an unnamed punter shortly after the Conservatives crushed Labour in May’s local elections. The person was one of many who apparently believed the
upcoming general election to be “unlosable”, the bookmaker was quoted as saying by The Independent.
The Prime Minister was riding high with a seemingly unassailable double-digit lead over Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in the polls and the only question on pundits’ minds seemed to be, “how big will the landslide be?”
Bookmakers hailed a bumper evening as large number of people placed big bets on the Conservatives to romp to a convincing victory which was not to be. William Hill said around 20 million pounds was wagered, the majority of it backing the Tories.
Joe Crilly, a spokesperson for the bookmaker, was quoted as saying that, “The general election result was a good one for us bookies as the Tories managed to fluff their lines in what was being billed as the ‘unlosable’ election.”
“We had a number of five figure bets on the Conservatives winning a majority, with some wagers at prices as short as 1/16, although one punter from London will be breathing a sigh of relief after backing the Conservatives to win the most seats to the tune of 200,000 pounds,” he said.
After what has been labelled one of the most disastrous election campaigns in living memory, bookies have slashed the odds on May being ousted from the Tory party’s top job.
William Hill has made Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson the favourite to be the next leader, followed by Amber Rudd and Phillip Hammond.
With results declared for all of the 650 seats of British Parliament, the Conservatives won 318 while the opposition Labour secured 262 with neither party close to the 326 seats required for an overall majority.
PTI