Vicky Foxcroft MP has taken over as the UK minister responsible for gambling as the British Horseracing Authority seeks urgent talks over affordability checks due to be implemented in 2027 and the betting sector assesses the implications of her record on gambling reform.
Foxcroft has been appointed parliamentary under-secretary of state for Museums, Heritage, Gambling and Lords minister at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, replacing Baroness Fiona Twycross. The Lewisham North MP, who has served in Parliament since 2015, will also have responsibility for horseracing.
The BHA said it wants an early discussion with Foxcroft after the Gambling Commission confirmed last month that affordability checks, also known as financial risk assessments, would proceed in 2027. The governing body has previously accused the government of abdicating responsibility for the policy to the regulator.
A BHA spokesperson said: “We look forward to working with Vicky Foxcroft MP following confirmation of her appointment as gambling minister. We will continue to engage with the ministerial team at the DCMS to champion Britain’s second largest sport.
“We are seeking an urgent discussion with the new minister to make her aware of our concerns following last month’s announcement that the Gambling Commission will press ahead with implementing affordability checks in 2027.”
Foxcroft has expressed relatively few public positions on horseracing, although she has supported a World Horse Welfare campaign against horse tethering and previously called for “the highest standards in equine welfare”.
Her record on gambling is more extensive. Foxcroft backed the reduction of fixed-odds betting terminal stakes to £2 per spin, supported a ban on gambling advertising during live sport and said problem gambling should be treated as a public health emergency. She also previously called for credit-card gambling to be banned and for banks to be able to block online gambling transactions by problem gamblers.
In 2025, Foxcroft was among 31 MPs who signed an early day motion challenging the “aim to permit” rule, which limited councils’ ability to reject applications for new gambling premises. Prime Minister Andy Burnham this week announced plans to scrap the rule and give local authorities greater powers to block new betting shops and other gambling venues.
Foxcroft also supported the statutory gambling levy introduced in November 2024, under which license holders contribute between 0.2% and 1.1% of annual gross gambling yield toward research and gambling harm prevention.
The Betting and Gaming Council welcomed her appointment but urged the government to consider the cumulative impact of regulation and recent tax increases.
BGC Chief Executive Grainne Hurst said: “We also look forward to working with the new Minister to tackle the rapidly growing illegal gambling black market, which puts consumers at risk and contributes nothing to the economy or British sport.”
Twycross, Foxcroft’s predecessor, oversaw implementation of the government’s gambling white paper and financial risk assessments.