Row over 'insider' wagers on the next Archbishop of Canterbury

- New betting accounts opened to wager on next Archbishop- MP describes it as 'insider trading'- William Hill spokesman says: “Is nothing sacred?
Outspoken: The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams Pic: PA
Peter Dominiczak9 November 2012

An “unholy” row erupted today over suspicious betting on the appointment of the new Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Standard has found that a number of people in south-west London opened online betting accounts this week specifically to wager on Bishop of Durham Justin Welby.

MP Chris Bryant today described the bets as potential “insider trading” and demanded reform of the system for appointing Archbishops, while senior MP Keith Vaz called for an inquiry.

Bishop Welby is set to be named as successor to Dr Rowan Williams tomorrow. The announcement of the new Archbishop is supposed to be made by No 10 after the secretive Crown Nominations Commission gives the Prime Minister its recommendation.

But bookmakers suspended betting on Tuesday after large sums were suddenly placed on the Old Etonian this week.

The former oil executive, 56, belongs to an evangelical church movement based at Holy Trinity Brompton in south-west London. There is no suggestion anyone broke the law by making the bets. But Labour MP Mr Bryant said: “It’s pretty shabby if someone had knowledge that Bishop Welby was on his way to becoming the Archbishop and put a bet on it.”

He went on: “The whole system for appointing an Archbishop is a complete shambles. I don’t see why there has to be this secrecy around it.

“It should be an open and transparent process. Then you would not have a situation where people know about the appointment and do this kind of insider trading.”

A betting source said: “People talk — that’s life. Is it possible that people in the know haven’t acted completely honourably? Yes, of course it is.

“But we have no reason to believe any rules have been broken. It’s all a bit unholy but you can’t blame them for having a gamble.” Ladbrokes shortened the odds on Bishop Welby to 1-2 favourite on Monday.

The move came after a sudden rise in bets — including several for hundreds of pounds — on the next Archbishop. Both Ladbrokes and William Hill then suspended betting on all candidates.

William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said: “Is nothing sacred?

“I don’t know the motives of those who opened a new account just to bet on the new Archbishop but I’ll be looking upwards to see how many churches get new roofs in the coming months.”

He added: “It’s not unexpected that we’re paying out on this one. When it’s something chosen by a panel you can be certain there’ll come a point when someone knows more than you do.”

David Williams of Ladbrokes said: “We’ve no reason to suspect that anything untoward prompted the 11th-hour plunge on Bishop Welby.

“People talk and people look to profit and in this instance, that’s fine. Our job is to ensure we keep on top of the gossip and the gambles.

“It’s a further illustration that for all the commentaries, pollsters and opinion-formers, the most accurate picture often comes from a visit to a bookie.”

Mr Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: “If there are any concerns about this issue then there certainly should be an inquiry into why in a certain part of London in a particular area this should have happened. People will need to look into this carefully.”

Tory MP Douglas Carswell said: “If the appointment was leaked it shows that Anglicans, I’m pleased to say, are humans like the rest of us. I don’t think we should be too harsh on them.”

Bishop Welby is seen as a conservative candidate. He has voiced strong opposition to gay marriage but supported the ordination of women bishops.

He is an ex-canon of Coventry Cathedral and member of the parliamentary commission investigating banking standards. His spokesman refused to comment on the betting issue.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in