It looks almost certain that former Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is going to become Prime Minister after he won the Makerfield by-election and Keir Starmer subsequently stepped down.
Burnham is a veteran politician, having first become an MP in 2001 before stepping down in 2017 and becoming Mayor of Greater Manchester for nine years. As with most politicians, gambling hasn’t been on the forefront of Burnham’s agenda throughout his 25-year career.
However, there have been several occasions when he has spoken out about the industry, and his opinions have usually been against it. As Burnham prepares his leadership bid, SBC News takes a look at three industry topics the UK’s next leader (hypothetically) could be opinionated on.
Burnham backs betting marketing rollback
Operator marketing practices have been a huge talking point in conversations around gambling regulation in the UK.
In recent years, Andy Burnham has positioned himself firmly in the camp of gambling reform advocates who want to see betting company sponsorship and advertising activity rolled back, particularly in sports.
In 2022 he gave his support to the Against the Odds campaign, a Greater Manchester-based campaign group calling for an end to gambling sponsorship and marketing across all levels of sport.
“Gambling sponsorship and advertising in sport has become so normalised,” Burnham remarked at the time. “We risk creating a culture where people feel they can’t enjoy sport properly without placing a bet. This needs to change.
“Sports clubs are so influential and they regularly support local communities in so many ways. For the sake of children and young people, its time to take a stand.”
“I urge every sports club in Greater Manchester to support the Against the Odds campaign. Together we can relegate gambling sponsorship of sport to the history books.”
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which Burnham headed up as Mayor, launched its own campaign against gambling harms in 2022, called ‘Odds Are: They Win’, coinciding with that year’s World Cup.
Burnham remarked at the time that “as an industry, the main aim of gambling operators is to maximise profits”.
“These profits are the result of customer losses which, particularly during this cost of living crisis, risk having a seriously detrimental impact on people’s lives,” he said.
Three years ago, the Gambling Act review White Paper was published.
The review of the 2005 Gambling Act – which Burnham voted in favour of while in Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s New Labour cabinet at the time – took just over three years, and sponsorship and marketing were defining topics of this.
The April 2023 White Paper introduced a Code of Conduct governing sports sponsorship activities. This came after the 18 out of 20 Premier League clubs voted in favour of ending front-of-shirt sponsorship deals with betting companies, a policy which will come into effect from the 2026/27 season onwards.
Campaigners for gambling reform – like Against the Odds, Gambling with Lives, and MPs like Labour’s Carolyn Harris – felt that the White Paper did not go far enough. Given his previous statements, Burnham likely falls in this camp.
Burnham, betting and the high-street
Online gambling has dominated most of the discourse around gambling regulation in the UK in recent years. Over the past year, however, retail betting and gaming has found itself thrust back into the spotlight.
Dawn Butler, Labour MP for Brent East in London, has been at the forefront of this.
The MP has been campaigning tirelessly for the government to overhaul the ‘Aim to Permit’ rule – a requirement that local councils lean more towards approving gambling licence applications.
Since Burnham’s by-election victory last week, Butler has come out as a firm supporter of his leadership ambitions. “Congrautations Andy,” she said in a social media post. “I think this is a phenomenal result, a 9,000 majority, that is what we need.”
In April last year, Butler’s calls were echoed by 38 local councils, led by Brent Council, in calling for greater powers to prevent gambling venues and rollback gambling advertising in their local areas.
Burnham was a notable name to co-sign the council’s letter. Concerns have largely related to adult gaming centres (AGCs) and late night-hour slot gaming, which various studies have confirmed is more addictive than other products like sports betting and lotteries.
“These are high-stakes gambling venues, often open around the clock, targeting some of the most vulnerable in our communities,” Burnham commented. “It’s unacceptable that councils have so little power to regulate them despite repeated concerns from charities and local residents.”
Local councils may well get their wish for more powers soon. The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill was approved by the House of Lords earlier this year, including a provision to amend the Gambling Act to remove Aim to Permit.
This is clearly a cause Burnham is firmly behind, and while the campaigns seem mainly concerned with AGCs and the problems caused by slot gaming, there is every chance high-street betting shops could feel a knock on effect.
Burnham and the Manchester ‘Super Casino’
Burnham’s voting record during the 2000s was broadly in favour of gambling regulation, toeing the line of the Prime Minister and chancellor of the Exchequer at the time – Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
His voting record shows he voted in favour of the Gambling Bill’s third reading in January 2004, with this bill later becoming the aforementioned 2005 Gambling Act. He had voted against the casino conditions of the bill in 2004, however.
Perhaps his most significant action around gambling during this time was his role in the development and ultimately scrapping the Manchester ‘Super Casino’ plans in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Tony Blair’s government saw regulation and expansion of the existing gland-based sector and of the emerging online sector as positive for the British economy.
This policy saw the government consider the prospect of launching a huge casino in either East Manchester or the Lancashire coastal town of Blackpool, envisioning a UK version of Las Vegas with one major casino heading up a strip of smaller venues to attract tourism and provide local jobs.
As Secretary of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) at the time, Burnham played a key role in overseeing this project. The city he would later govern as Mayor would ultimately become successful in bidding to host the 1,000 gaming machine-strong venue.
However, Burnham pulled the plug in 2006, having expressed concern at the potential social impact a large casino venue could have in the deprived areas of East Manchester. He did give the go ahead for smaller venues, however, telling MPs he was “satisfied they do not pose the same level of risk to the public”.
What should bookies think of Burnham?
Overall, Burnham’s voting record and opinions are indicative of a politician who is at best cautious about the gambling industry’s operations and business practices and at worst, for the industry at least, confrontational.
So, should the industry fear him as a boogeyman? No. It’s highly unlikely that Burnham would go as far as to ban the whole sector, given the huge amount of tax money the Treasury expects to reap under Rachael Reeves’ (Chancellor of the Exchequer) new tax regime.
Also, given that the gambling sector accounts for just about 0.3% of the British economy and there are far more pressing matters at hand like conflict in the Middle East, climate change, and general economic stagnation, among other topics, it’s unlikely that the industry will be at the forefront of Burnham’s agenda.
Industry leadership should be aware, however, that they are unlikely to find a sympathetic ear in the man highly likely to be the UK’s next Prime Minister.
