RECKLESS GAMBLE ON TORIES TO REGAIN ROCHESTER?

Written by Graham Sharpe

at 08.55 
UKIP have been installed as 4/11 favourites by William Hill to retain the Rochester & Strood seat at the General Election, with the Conservatives 2/1 to win it back.

William Hill now offer 4/6 that TWO or more MPs will defect to UKIP before the General Election.

Hills have cut the UKIP from 4/9 to 2/5 to win five or more seats at the General Election and make them 5/1 to be part of a government coalition following the General Election.

The odds for 'No overall majority' have been cut to their shortest price pf 1/2 (from 4/7) by Hills, who offer 3/1 Con-LD coalition; 10/3 Labour majority;4/1 Lab-LD coalition; 9/2 Tory majority; 5/1 coalition involving UKIP; 11/2 coalition involving SNP; 7/1 Conservative minority govt; 7/1 Labour minority govt; 50/1 UKIP majority; 500/1 Lib Dem majority.

UKIP seats at General Election: 10/1 None; 4/1 1-2; 8/1 3-4; 2/5 Five or more; 7/1 50 or more; 16/1 100 or more.

ROCHESTER & STROOD AT GENERAL ELECTION......4/11 UKIP; 2/1 Cons; 20/1 Labour; 200/1 Lib Dems.

MPs TO DEFECT TO UKIP BEFORE GENERAL ELECTION....4/6 Two or more; 2/1 None; 9/2 One

But this evening 18.24

RECKLESS GAMBLE ON TORIES TO REGAIN ROCHESTER?

DESPITE UKIP winning the Rochester& Strood by-election by nearly 3000 votes, political punters are betting that the Conservatives will win the seat back at the General Election.

William Hill offered 2/1 that the Tories would regain the seat when they opened the market on Friday morning - but by lunchtime, they had been backed down to 5/6 - the same odds being offered about Ukip, who were initially quoted at 4/11, retaining the seat.

'Given that the constituency had clearly voted in favour of UKIP only hours earlier, we were taken by surprise by the number of punters wishing to bet that the result will be reversed for the General Election, but we had to react to where the money was going and slash the odds' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe.