UK: Anti-gambling Advocate Donates £250K to Labour’s Campaign

Ahead of the general elections in the UK, a number of politicians were tangled in a massive betting scandal. The looming scandal involved Conservatives as well as Labour party members.

The betting scandal had a detrimental effect on the outcome of the elections, especially considering Labour’s win who took more than 400 out of the 650 parliamentary seats. While this marked the best victory for the party in the last 20 years, it was also the worst outcome for the Conservatives, who are known as Tories in the country.

Less than two weeks after the general election, the rival parties disclosed details regarding the donations for their election campaigns. Not surprisingly, the donations Labour secured were significantly higher when compared to the Tories’ donations.

In fact, the sum gathered by Labour was five times higher than the Conservators’ £1.8 million ($2.33 million) in donations. During the campaign that lasted just above one month, Labour gathered more than £9.5 million ($12.3 million) in donations.

The Conservatives’ political campaign raised a sum that was in the same ballpark as its rivals, the Liberal Democrats and Reform UK. While the former raised £1.7 million ($2.2 million), the latter reported £1.6 million ($2.1 million) in donations.

A surprise donation that benefitted Labour during the recent campaign was £250,000 ($324,300) from Derek Webb, a former professional poker player and the founder of the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG), an anti-gambling group that supports protection of customers from harm and excessive gambling.

Webb’s Donation Comes during Changes to the Gambling Regulations in the Country

The generous donation was made days before the July 4 election. The support from Webb comes at a time when the UK is overhauling its gambling sector. A review of the Gambling Act was completed last spring, paving the way for implementation of restrictions, including limits, affordability checks and other regulations with a goal to protect gamblers from excessive spending.

The CFG played a key role in changes implemented to FOBTs, electronic gaming machines known as fixed odds betting terminals, which according to the organization are among the most addictive gambling products.

CFG’s efforts resulted in a significant decrease in the maximum stake per spin for FOBTs. Although that sum was previously £100 ($130) per spin, the CFG collaborated with lawmakers who ultimately reduced the maximum stake per spin to only £2 ($2.60).

This resulted in a decrease of 40% or £750 million ($972.6 million) in the annual revenue generated by FOBTs. Notably, the CFG said that the reduced maximum stake per spin resulted in a decrease of 65% in the cases of harm related to those machines.

Although the elections brought some uncertainties regarding the reform of the gambling sector, Labour’s manifesto clearly outlined efforts in that direction. With that in mind, the overhaul of the industry is a complex and lengthy process so it is yet to be seen what further improvements the majority in parliament may consider.