Paddy Power has announced another early political pay-out, as the bookmaker confirmed that it had cashed out + £100,000 on Jeremy Corbyn winning the Labour Leadership Election.
Releasing a statement to the UK media, the bookmaker reported that it had closed the political market with almost a month of party member voting left (results will be announced on 12 September).
The operator stated that it felt that the Labour leadership race was a ‘done deal’, further describing the North Islington MP’s campaign as the “biggest upset in UK political history”.
Corbyn had not even featured as a candidate in many bookmakers ‘Labour Leadership’ when markets opened at the end of May.
The far-left union supported Corbyn, appears to have beaten the politically favoured Labour stalwarts of Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper and Liz Kendall. To date all party polls commissioned have Corbyn maintaining a clear lead over the chasing pack.
Paddy Power’s early pay-out on a Corbyn victory, would appear to be a brave decision as 2015 has not been kind to UK bookmaker’s ambitions as political indicators.
In July Paddy Power paid out early on a “Yes Vote” for the Greek Euro referendum, which saw a a lopsided 61% NO vote win. The bookmaker declared that it had lost £ five-figures by taking the decision to pay-out early.