Conservative MP Philip Davies has been accused of “cronyism” after two former aides became safer gambling advisors at the betting firm GVC, the same company which offered Davies £49,980 (US$66,308) for “providing advice on responsible gambling and customer service” between July and September. The Davies payment, which also involved advice on safer gambling, came prior to a government review of gambling laws, the Guardian said.
He accepted the first installment of the money August 27 but did not step down as a member of the select committee for digital, culture, media and sport, the department managing the forthcoming review of gambling regulation, until November. Davies did 124 hours of work for GVC.
The company’s head of safer gambling and external affairs, Sophie Dean, worked for Davies between 2013 and 2018, according to parliamentary records and the MP’s website. GVC’s chief of corporate affairs, Grainne Hurst, also worked for Davies as a parliamentary researcher between 2010 and 2012.
The Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who chairs a cross-party group of MPs examining gambling harm, said, “It is astonishing that Mr. Davies would allow himself to be placed in such a compromising position. This does little to instill public faith in politicians.”
A spokesperson for GVC said Davies reported directly to former CEO, Kenny Alexander, who signed off on the contract before stepping down earlier this year. Davies advised “on a range of safer gambling and customer protection initiatives”, pointing to his background as a bookmaker and former chairman of a cross-party group on betting and gaming.
“As such, he has useful insight and perspective to offer on a range of industry issues including those that relate to safer gambling,” the company said.
Davies told the Telegraph & Argus that the contract contained a “no lobbying” clause that prevented him from making representations on behalf of GVC to ministers in charge of gambling reforms.
Davies said he left the culture select committee earlier this year to avoid a conflict of interest. The Shipley MP is a well-known advocate for the gambling industry, with a personal and family history in bookmaking. He has previously come under fire for promoting the interests of gambling companies in parliament while accepting hospitality and favorable terms on a betting account with Ladbrokes.
In 2016, Davies was cleared of any wrongdoing by the parliamentary standards watchdog over claims he did not disclose £10,000 in hospitality from gambling firms while sitting on a committee investigating the sector.
Fellow Tory MP Laurence Robertson will be paid £2,000 for 10 hours a month working for the Betting and Gaming Council, a job he began October 1. In the more modestly paid role, equivalent to £24,000 a year, Roberston will serve as the council’s parliamentary adviser on sport and safer gambling.
He said he would not advocate for the industry, nor make submissions to the gambling review on behalf of the cross-party parliamentary on betting and gaming, of which he is a member.
Harris, a leading advocate for gambling reform said: “Laurence and Philip Davies are the two people who’ve spoken out most in support of the industry.”
Davies and Robertson’s work for the gambling industry emerged weeks after the Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson, faced criticism for accepting an advisory role with Flutter, the owner of Paddy Power. Unlike Watson, who is no longer in parliament, Davies and Robertson remain prominent members.
Speaking about Robertson, the BGC said as a “Conservative candidate at the last general election, he stood on a manifesto specifically committed to reforming the Gambling Act. His appointment is consistent with the strict parliamentary rules and has already been declared, so it is fully transparent.”
Robertson insists he observed strict parliamentary rules on such matters. “Paid advocacy is, of course, rightly prohibited in parliament and my contract with the BGC rules out such practices anyway,” he said.
