• A High Court trial has begun in London over a £1.3 billion lawsuit brought by billionaire businessman Richard Desmond against the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
• The lawsuit alleges serious flaws in the 2022 competition that awarded the fourth UK National Lottery licence to the Czech-owned operator, Allwyn.
• Desmond’s legal team argues his bid was unfairly penalised and that Allwyn should have been disqualified over its parent company’s historic links to Russian state-owned firms.
• The UKGC maintains its process was robust and has described Desmond’s bid as “fanciful,” a position supported by Allwyn, which has joined the defence.
• The case has already cost the UKGC over £13 million in legal fees, and any damages awarded could be paid from the National Lottery’s fund for good causes.

A High-Stakes Battle Over a ‘National Treasure’

The long-running and bitter dispute over the awarding of the UK National Lottery licence has finally reached the High Court in London. A trial opened this week in which billionaire media proprietor Richard Desmond is suing the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for up to £1.3 billion, alleging that the 2022 procurement process was seriously flawed.

The case puts the conduct of the UK’s top gambling regulator under intense scrutiny and threatens a massive bill for the public purse. The legal battle centres on the UKGC’s decision to award the fourth National Lottery licence, the UK’s largest public sector contract, to Allwyn, ending Camelot’s 30-year incumbency.

The Allegations: A Flawed and Unfair Process

Desmond, who was a rival bidder through his entity The New Lottery Company (TNLC), has made a series of explosive allegations against the regulator. His legal team is expected to argue that:

• The bidding process was unfair, with the UKGC applying undisclosed criteria that penalised his company’s bid.
• Allwyn should have been disqualified from the competition for breaching rules around media briefings and, more seriously, for its parent company KKCG’s historic joint ventures with Russian state-owned enterprises, including Gazprom.
• Significant changes were made to Allwyn’s contract after it was named the preferred applicant, which should have triggered a complete re-run of the competition.

The Defence: A ‘Robust’ Process and a ‘Fanciful’ Bid

The UK Gambling Commission has vowed to “robustly defend” its decision-making. The regulator has consistently maintained that its process was fair and has previously described Desmond’s bid as “fanciful,” claiming it scored poorly in the rigorous evaluation. The current operator, Allwyn, has joined the UKGC in defending the case, arguing that its own reputation is at stake.

The regulator’s CEO, Andrew Rhodes, recently described the National Lottery as “a national institution, a national treasure and one that we at the Gambling Commission take great pride in being a custodian of.”

The Cost to the Public Purse

The legal battle has already proven to be incredibly expensive. Recent figures show the UKGC’s lottery-related legal bills have soared from £400,000 to more than £13 million in a single year, largely due to this dispute.

The stakes are now even higher. If Desmond’s lawsuit is successful, any damages awarded by the court would first be drawn from the National Lottery’s fund for good causes, which distributes around £30 million to charities and community projects each week. Should that fund be insufficient, the UK taxpayer could ultimately be left to foot the bill. The trial is one of the most closely watched legal cases of the year and its outcome will have profound implications for both the UKGC and the future of public procurement in the UK.