Labour landslide to usher in new UK government as gambling sector waits for impact

Sir Keir Starmer is set to become the next prime minister of the UK and Northern Ireland after a Labour landslide at the general election.

At the time of writing, with just two seats left to declare, Labour won in 412 constituencies across the country, while the Conservatives plummeted to just 121 seats.

The result is the worst in the Tories’ history and will bring an end to their 14 years in power.

Rishi Sunak, the outgoing prime minister, held onto his seat in Richmond and Northallerton, in North Yorkshire. He said that the country had delivered a “sobering verdict”.

Starmer is expected to head to Downing Street later today to address the nation after being given approval by King Charles III to form the next government.

For the gambling sector, the wait will now begin to see how Starmer and his government will oversee the industry, and if there will be any alterations to the direction of policy following the release of the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 last April.

The party’s manifesto, released ahead of the general election, included a single paragraph on gambling, embedded within Labour’s plans to “Build an NHS fit for the future”.

The paragraph read: “Labour is committed to reducing gambling-related harm. 

“Recognising the evolution of the gambling landscape since 2005, Labour will reform gambling regulation, strengthening protections. We will continue to work with the industry on how to ensure responsible gambling.”

It was, of course, the Labour government under Sir Tony Blair that introduced the Gambling Act 2005.

In terms of which key figures could play a role in Labour’s policy in gambling, Stephanie Peacock, former shadow minister for sport, gambling and media, will return as an MP.

Starmer will be building out his cabinet over the coming days, but Peacock will be hoping to transition into the cabinet proper after winning her Barnsley South seat.

She secured 46.7% of the vote and finished nearly 5,000 votes ahead of Reform UK candidate David White in second place.

However, shadow culture secretary Thangam Debbonaire lost her Bristol Central seat to the Green Party.

Debbonaire, a close ally of Starmer, saw her vote share plunge as the Greens’ co-leader Carla Denyer swept up 56.5% of the vote, a 30.6 percentage point swing.

The Conservatives’ Laurence Robertson and Philip Davies, both vocal supporters of the racing industry, lost their seats of Tewkesbury and Shipley to the Liberal Democrats and Labour, respectively.                                           

Another Tory who played a role in shaping the gambling sector but lost their seat was Lucy Frazer. The former culture secretary saw her Ely and East Cambridgeshire constituency go to the Lib Dems.

However, former gambling minister Stuart Andrew, who announced prior to the election that he would step down from his role, was re-elected – in his new constituency of Daventry. He had previously served as Pudsey MP since 2010 before that seat was abolished under the government’s boundary changes.

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader and advocate for gambling reform, clung onto his Chingford and Wood Green seat after independent candidate Faiza Shaheen split the Labour vote.

Elsewhere, with the Conservatives having been hampered by Gamblegate and the investigation from the Gambling Commission ongoing, two candidates implicated in the scandal failed to win.

Craig Williams, Sunak’s private parliamentary secretary, lost his Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr seat to Labour as he slipped to third behind Reform UK.

Laura Saunders, who was standing in Bristol North West, saw Labour’s Darren Jones retain the constituency with almost 50% of the vote as she finished in third behind the Greens.

Labour candidate Kevin Craig, who was suspended by the party after it emerged he had bet on the election outcome, saw the Tories retain Central Suffolk and North Ipswich despite their vote dipping by 29.3 percentage points.

For the smaller parties, it was a great evening for the Lib Dems as they soared to 71 seats while the Scottish National Party slumped to just nine. Reform UK and the Greens took four seats each.