Who is the mystery Windsor punter?

With the Cameron-Davis race looking even more of a certainty one punter has staked what is believed to be the biggest political bet ever placed – £200,000 – in a William Hill betting shop in Windsor.

The man, in his forties and with an Irish accent, walked into the William Hill shop, and asked staff what odds Cameron was to win the race to be become Tory Leader.’When they explained that he was a red-hot 1/25 favourite, the man said he wanted to place £200,000 on Cameron winning’ said a Hill’s spokesman.

He went on: “The staff had to refer the bet to Head Office for acceptance, which was duly agreed and the man, who they had seen in the shop once or twice before, but who had never previously staked more than £100 on any one bet, paid on Monday morning by banker’s draft. He stands to win a profit of £8000 if the bet is successful. There is no record of any bookmaker ever accepting a political bet of this size before.”

And if you are speculating about the identity of the punters the spokesman went on: “.. although it could be described as a right royal wager, the location of the betting shop, in the shadow of Windsor Castle is not significant in terms of the identity of the customer, who has asked to remain anonymous”

After taking the bet, Hills slashed Cameron’s odds even further to 1/66, with David Davis now a 14/1 chance. The previous biggest bet Hills had taken for Cameron was £39,200.

Even though David Davis is having to to go through the motions of claiming that he still has a chance it is hard to see any other outcome. The only risk, surely, in this bet if if something tragic happened to David Cameron. While it’s still possible to get a return then we will see more bets like this one – and at tighter prices.

The current best price is 0.03/1

Mike Smithson