Vicky Foxcroft, Member of Parliament for Lewisham North, will become the UK’s new Gambling Minister, replacing Baroness Twycross, according to a statement by the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), welcoming her to the role. However, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has yet to confirm this.
BGC Welcomes Foxcroft as New British Gambling Minister
In its statement, the BGC said it looked forward to working with Foxcroft, who has reportedly been appointed as the new minister. It pointed to her previous support for a balanced approach to gambling regulation, which aims to protect vulnerable people, particularly children, while enabling adults who choose to gamble to do so safely.
The BGC also praised Baroness Fiona Twycross, whom Foxcroft is expected to replace as Gambling Minister if her appointment is confirmed. While no such thing has been announced by the DSMS at the time of writing this article, Foxcroft has remained the most likely candidate to succeed Baroness Twycross, who is rumored to lose her position as gambling minister of the UK as the government is in the midst of a reshuffle.
Despite that, the BGC’s CEO, Grainne Hurst, also thanked Baroness Twycross for “the thoughtful, open and constructive way” she engaged with the UK gambling industry. Twycross had made a genuine effort to understand its members, Hurst explained. During her tenure in the position, she met staff and visited venues across the country to see first-hand the industry’s contribution to jobs, investment, local economies and British sport, as well as the enjoyment it provides to millions of people.
The BGC also said Baroness Twycross recognised its members’ commitment to protecting vulnerable people, adding that it had greatly valued her engagement and wished her every success in the future.
Foxcroft Has Long Called for Reforms in the Gambling Industry
Foxcroft is no stranger to supporting bold reforms in the UK’s gambling sector. has previously spoken out about what she described as an “epidemic of problem gambling”. In 2018, she called on the government to ban the use of credit cards for betting and give banks the power to prevent problem gamblers from making gambling-related online transactions.
In addition, Foxcroft backed an Early Day Motion on “high street gambling reform”, tabled in June 2025. The motion raised concerns about the lack of sufficient powers to control the spread of gambling venues under the statutory “aim to permit”, as well as restrictions preventing councils from rejecting applications for new gambling venues in areas already saturated with betting shops.
This has been a hot topic of discussion among gambling circles in the UK, as the country’s Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, vowed to crack down on slot arcades and betting shops on the high streets of British cities, a notion that was welcomed by some, while criticized by others.