UK’s Gambling Minister steps down ahead of summer general election
Conservative MP Stuart Andrew will not stand for re-election on 4 July as his constituency splits in two following boundary changes
Gambling Minister Stuart Andrew has stepped down as an MP ahead of the snap UK general election on 4 July called by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this month.
Andrew’s constituency of Pudsey, Horsforth and Aireborough will no longer exist after it was split in two as part of the boundary review completed by the UK government following a public consultation last year.
The Conservative’s Pudsey seat will be split by two successor constituencies in the shape of Leeds North West and Leeds West and Pudsey.
Leeds North West is an existing constituency currently held by Labour and Co-operative Party member Alex Sobel, while Leeds West has also been abolished to make way for the newly combined entity.
Andrew had served as Pudsey’s MP since 2010 and was named Gambling Minister in February 2023, replacing Paul Scully.
Andrew was the seventh minister to have been handed the gambling brief since the Conservatives swept to power in 2019 and was in the post when the white paper into the Gambling Act 2005 review was eventually published in April last year.
The review of Britain’s gambling laws was first laid out in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto, and has since seen Oliver Dowden, Nadine Dorries, Michelle Donelan, Chris Philp and Damian Collins oversee the industry under the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS).
Andrew is one of more than 75 Conservative MPs set to stand down at the general election, according to the BBC, and with Labour an average of 21 points ahead in the polls, Sir Keir Starmer could be set to take his party into power after 14 years in opposition.
Barnsley East MP Stephanie Peacock had been serving as Labour’s shadow minister for sport, gambling and media.
She has confirmed she will stand for re-election in her seat, which she has held since 2017.
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, last night, 29 May, Andrew confirmed that following the dissolution of parliament ahead of the election campaign, he was no longer a sitting MP.
He said: “As of midnight tonight, parliament will dissolve and there will be no members of parliament until after the general election. As the constituency of Pudsey, Horsforth and Aireborough will no longer exist at this point, I am no longer a member of parliament.
“I know for some they will be delighted, but it has been the biggest honour and privilege of my life to serve the constituency that I have called home for over two decades.
“I am genuinely sorry that the constituency will no longer exist – it’s been a blast,” he added.
Posting on LinkedIn, Betsmart Consultancy’s Nigel Harvey said: “So Stuart Andrew, the UK Gambling Minister, took to X last night to announce he is resigning.
“Even if by some miracle the Conservatives remain in power next month, we are now surely guaranteed to have further delays to the implementation of the DCMS side of the white paper?
“Labour won’t be in any hurry, and any new Tory minister will want to put their own input in? Oh well.”