Man puts £10k bet on Corbyn to win the general election

The punter said he was "absolutely convinced" Jeremy Corbyn would win the General Election

An anonymous punter stands to win £182,000 if his bets on Labour winning June's general election come off.

Bookmaker Betfred said the 24-year-old graduate from Norwich, who does not want to be named, placed a series of wagers amounting to £10,000.

He put £6,000 on Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn becoming the next prime minister at odds of 12/1 and £3,000 at 20/1 on Labour winning the most seats.

A further £1,000 at 40/1 odds was put on the party achieving a majority.

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"He is absolutely convinced that Jeremy Corbyn is going to win," a spokesman said.

"He always does quirky bets, such as on X Factor and Britain's Got Talent but this is his first political bet."

Political betting upsurge

All three of the latest bets were made on Thursday at the London Street branch.

The firm said its odds are worked out by expert traders who study the polls, what is in the news and other political betting going on around the country.

The amount of the bet equals one in Mr Corbyn's own Islington North constituency where £10,000 has been placed on Labour winning most seats and achieving an overall majority.

Betfred said it had seen an "upsurge in political betting especially amongst young people".

"We are well on target for there to be £2m-plus bets on this general election, which would be a record for a single political event beating the Brexit referendum and Donald Trump unexpectedly beating Hillary Clinton to become US president," the spokesman added.

Bookmakers William Hill said that political betting "used to be seen as niche" but it's "pretty big these days" and it was the 2015 General Election that "really kicked it off".

Joe Crilly from the company said: "We took over £1m for the French election.

"Most of the money we are seeing now is on the Tories and they are large amounts... for every £1 bet on Labour were are getting £16.52 on the Conservatives."

The company has so far taken £900,000 in bets on the upcoming election with the largest bet taken so far being £70,000 on the Conservatives to win.

It said the biggest single liability racked up is £175,000 with a North London man who has put £1,000 on UKIP to win.