A Suffolk woman has said she is frustrated at "losing" her vote after a Labour candidate was suspended in a betting scandal.

Jane Reeves, a teacher from Ipswich, cast her vote on June 25 for Kevin Craig, who was Labour candidate for the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency.

But the following day, PR guru Mr Craig, founder of political public relations firm PLMR which owns communications agency PLMR Genesis in Ipswich, was suspended by the Labour Party after placing a bet on himself to lose.

It was too late for Mr Craig to be removed from the ballot and his name remained on the voting slip as an independent candidate.

The saga left 76,000 voters in the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich constituency without an official Labour candidate.

In the general election of 2019, 11,862 people voted for Labour candidate Emma Bonner-Morgan - runner up to Conservative Dr Dan Poulter who polled 35,253 votes.

The experience has angered long-standing Labour supporter Mrs Reeves, who was unable to retract her vote and cast it again under election rules.

 

Mrs Reeves said she is disgusted by the idea that she cannot vote again.Mrs Reeves said she is disgusted by the idea that she cannot vote again. (Image: Sarah Lucy Brown)

She said: "I am disgusted by the idea that I cannot vote again. 

"I did not want to vote for him (Kevin Craig) now that he is going to stand as an independent, I wanted to vote for the Labour Party."

She was also concerned other voters who used their postal vote may have voted for someone they did not intend to support.

"Essentially we have lost our vote," she added. 

Mr Craig described the incident as a stupid error of judgement.Mr Craig described the incident as a "stupid error of judgement". (Image: Kevin Craig)

When news of the betting scandal emerged, the Labour Party withdrew its support for Mr Craig.

It meant that if elected Mr Craig will have to represent his constituents as an independent MP in Parliament.

Mr Craig described his actions as a "stupid error of judgement".