Bookies take a hammering after shock win by Tories

BOOKIES were licking their wounds after the Conservatives gained a surprise majority in the General Election and gamblers collected big payouts.

Ladbrokes was £1million down on its Election betting while William Hill was facing a £500,000 loss.

Punters who gambled on a Tory majority got long odds because the opinion polls suggested that an outright victory was highly unlikely.

William Hill was offering odds of 10/1 on Thursday night on the Conservatives having a majority even after exit polls indicated a surprise surge by the party.

One William Hill client picked up £80,000 after placing a £13,500 bet on David Cameron having a majority. A Ladbrokes customer collected £240,000 after wagering £30,000 on the same result at 7/1.

Another Ladbrokes customer bet £25 at 80/1 that the Liberal Democrats would end up with exactly eight seats, netting £2,000.

A spokesman for Ladbrokes said: ‘The Conservative supporters who kept the faith in their party defying the odds and the polls have collected a packet at our expense.’

As much as £25million is thought to have been staked on the General Election, making it the biggest political betting event yet in the UK. About £3million was staked on the referendum outcome, while the last General Election saw bets of £6million.

Bookies take bets on individual constituency results, which will be the largest party and who will be Prime Minister.

They are now taking bets on who will be the next Labour leader and the result of the Tories’ proposed EU referendum. Ladbrokes is offering odds of 1/2 that voters will opt to stay in the EU and 6/4 on leaving.