Will the General Election Further Delay Gambling Reform?

The clock is ticking down to the July 4 General Election. It’s not looking good for the Conservatives at present but as we are continually being told, opinion polls can be wrong and only one vote actually counts. Whoever wins in July, will the result cause further delays to reforming the UK gambling industry?

The 2019 General Election saw the Conservative candidate Dr Ben Spencer elected with an 18,270 majority and 54.9% of the vote. A much closer result is expected on July 4 however. Recent polls have shown the Liberal Democrats (who performed well in the recent council elections) and Labour increasing their share of the vote and Reform UK also doing far better than UKIP did five years ago.

The Conservatives are still expected to win the seat but if Reform keeps taking votes off them, we could still see a change on July 4.

There are many issues that are being given a great deal of coverage in this General Election campaign. One that doesn’t seem to be hitting the headlines too much is the subject of gambling reform. The only real mention we’ve seen is an ongoing investigation into a Conservative MP for a bet placed on when the poll would be held.

Gambling reform is an important subject though and this year has seen some movement on the issue.

The subject was mentioned in the 2019 Conservative Party election manifesto. There had been many calls for reform due to the last major legislation being back in 2005. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to create legislation that was more fitting for the digital age rather than the analogue one.

In the years that have followed, there has been plenty of evidence-gathering and consultation on what measures need to be taken. There was one delay after another as the problems in Downing Street intensified and then the pandemic came along.

The pandemic actually made it more important than ever to reform the UK gambling industry. Due to the lockdowns that took place, there was a rise in the number of people who visited UK online casinos, some of the independent sites listed here.

Dr Ben Spencer has dealt with many issues in his five years in Surrey as a Conservative MP. That has included everything from funding for the Magna Carta School to gravel extraction at Whitehall Farm. Mentions of gambling reform seem few and far between but as a psychiatrist he must be aware of the mental health problems gambling can cause.

Last year saw a White Paper finally published on the subject of gambling reform. It contained many measures, mostly aimed at online casinos, increasing protection and helping younger gamblers.

More consultation has taken place since the White Paper was published. This year has seen some progress though with plans to introduce a maximum stake limit for online slot games. They are very popular with young gamblers and no maximum stake currently exists. Huge losses can be made on such games without a great deal of time passing.

With this in mind, from September the maximum stake for those aged 18-24 will be set at £2. It’ll be £5 for those aged 25 and over. However, with the General Election now having been called for July, it’s debatable whether these changes will come into force.

Labour haven’t shown too much opposition to what has been included in the White Paper. There has been a suggestion that the £2 stake limit should be imposed for players of all ages. If Labour was to take power and that happened, it wouldn’t be the best of news for the UK gambling industry.

Similar action was taken in the past against the machines seen in UK High Street bookmakers. The maximum stake limit was reduced from £100 to £2 and that saw a big fall in revenue from the machines. This led to some shops being closed and redundancies being made.

Labour have included in their manifesto a pledge to introduce new measures aimed at reducing gambling harm. Their aim is to work with the gambling industry in achieving this. That’s been welcomed by those in the industry and they’ll be even more delighted if fair and evidence-based reforms are introduced.

The Liberal Democrats have also given details of how they’d reform the gambling industry. They intend to introduce “effective” affordability checks for gamblers who lose £100 a month. A compulsory levy would also be introduced with the funds received helping those suffering gambling harm.

When will the reforms take place? It’s unlikely that this subject will be anywhere near the top of the to-do list of whichever party is elected in July. More consultation is likely and while that happens, gambling harm continues. An interesting time lies ahead for the UK gambling industry.