The timing of the general election betting scandal is “terrible” for the Conservative Party, a Cabinet minister has admitted. 

Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said she hoped the Gambling Commission and internal Tory investigations into the claims would be concluded “quickly” but stressed the need for “due process” to be followed. 

She told Sky News: “Those things, hopefully they can be done quite quickly, I don’t know what the timescales are.

“But to be fair you do need to allow people to have due process and that will actually be determining then what follows, what actions need to be taken. You do have to put them in that order. That is pretty normal to put them in that order. 

“I understand the timing is terrible. It is terrible for Rishi himself and he is obviously very angry about it as we all are. But you do have to get the facts established and then take the appropriate action based on what they tell us that is.”  

Claims of Tory election betting continue to dominate the general election campaign, with polling day on July 4 now just over a week away.

You can follow the latest updates below.