Nicky Morgan to step down as Culture Secretary
Conservative MP Nicky Morgan confirms she will not stand for reelection in December vote
UK Culture Secretary Nicky Morgan has announced she will step down as an MP in the forthcoming elections, after less than four months in the role.
Morgan replaced former Attorney General Jeremy Wright in July, who himself had been in the role for less than a year, and joins more than 50 MPs who have said they will not stand again.
https://twitter.com/NickyMorgan01/status/1189625485124354048
Bet365 currently has the Conservative party 10/11 to obtain a parliamentary majority, and 4/1 for a minority government, while the Labour Party is currently 14/1 to win a majority.
Should the Boris Johnson-led Conservative government fail to retain control of the UK government at the election on December 12, the most likely party to form a government is the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn, as it retains the largest number of MPs.
If this occurs, the likely incumbent of the secretary of state for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will be the current shadow minister Tom Watson.
In his current role as shadow culture secretary Tom Watson was one of the chief proponents of the so-called “whistle-to-whistle” ban on gambling advertising during live sporting events, which came into force earlier this year.
Today, in a speech to the @Demos think-thank, I am announcing that Labour will introduce a new watchdog for the gambling industry, a Gambling Ombudsman dedicated to consumer protection. You can watch on Facebook Live here. https://t.co/yESVwuOWfv
— Tom Watson (@tom_watson) June 18, 2019
Watson has also claimed the current 2005 gambling act is “completely unfit for the digital age” and has pledged that operators found to be failing consumers should be made to reapply for UK licences.
Warwick Bartlett, CEO of Global Betting and Gaming Consultants, warned today’s Labour politicians were more radical than their predecessors who instituted the 2005 Gambling Act.
“What the industry needs now is consistency, there have been too many ministerial changes over too short a period of time,” Bartlett added.
Richard Williams, consultant solicitor at Keystone Law, said Labour could feasibly raise taxes further as the industry is an“easy target”.
However, Williams added: “DCMS may have gambling more on its radar with Tom Watson at the helm, but I wouldn’t expect any significant change in the medium term.”