Sir Philip Davies, the former Conservative MP and one-time joint chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Betting and Gaming, has joined the board of the British Horseracing Authority (BHA), racing’s governing and regulatory body. The BHA confirmed the appointment in a statement on 12 October.

Davies joins as the Racecourse Association’s (RCA) Member Nominated Director on an interim basis. He replaces Wilf Walsh, who had held one of the RCA’s two nominated seats on the BHA board since October 2021. The BHA did not give an end date for the interim arrangement.

Under the BHA’s Articles of Association, the racecourse member appoints two directors with practical experience of the horseracing industry. Davies joined the RCA board earlier this year.

A familiar voice for racing and betting

Davies was MP for Shipley in West Yorkshire from 2005 until 2024. Alongside his APPG for Betting and Gaming role, he was vice chair of the APPG for Racing and Bloodstock.

Since leaving the Commons he has built a portfolio of roles across racing and greyhounds. He is chairman of the Greyhound Board of Great Britain (GBGB), a post he took up in September 2025, and chairman of the National Horseracing College in Doncaster. He is also a former board member of the Racehorse Owners Association.

BHA chair Simon Cox said Davies had been a strong advocate for racing and betting throughout his parliamentary career. “Throughout his time in Parliament he was a strong advocate for racing and betting, helping to ensure the interests of our sport were understood by his fellow politicians,” Cox said in the BHA’s announcement. Cox also thanked Walsh for his contribution over the past five years.

Davies said he was delighted to be joining the board “to represent the interests of racecourses”, adding that he looked forward to working with stakeholders across the sport to support its long-term success.

The appointment was not without friction. The Racing Post reported that the RCA had originally put forward Arena Racing Company chief executive Martin Cruddace and York racecourse chair Bridget Guerin for its two board places, and that Cox pushed back on both over potential conflicts of interest arising from their racecourse roles. Neither the BHA nor the RCA addressed that account in the official announcement. Cox, a former Molson Coors executive, took over as BHA chair this month and, according to the Racing Post, was due to chair his first board meeting this week.

Tax and affordability checks at the top of the agenda

Davies arrives as racing grapples with the fallout from a turbulent period of fiscal and regulatory change. In the November 2025 Budget, the government abandoned plans for a single harmonised tax on remote betting and gaming. Instead, according to HM Revenue and Customs guidance, Remote Gaming Duty rose from 21% to 40% from 1 April 2026, and a new 25% rate for remote general betting will apply from 1 April 2027.

Remote bets on UK horseracing were excluded from that increase and remain at 15%. The government justified the carve-out on the basis that bookmakers already pay 10% of their racing profits into the Horserace Betting Levy, giving racing bets an effective 25% rate. The exemption followed the BHA’s “Axe the Racing Tax” campaign, which included an unprecedented sport-wide strike on 10 September 2025. Official figures put the overall gambling duty package at more than £1bn a year in additional revenue by the end of the decade.

Racing’s other major battle has been over financial risk checks. On 7 July 2026, the Gambling Commission confirmed it would introduce Financial Risk Assessments in stages. The first phase will apply to the largest operators when a customer reaches £5,000 in net deposits within 24 hours. Once fully in place, checks would trigger at £1,000 in 24 hours or £3,000 over 90 days for customers aged 25 and over, with lower limits for under-25s. No date has been set for full implementation.

BHA chief executive Brant Dunshea said at the time that the authority was “hugely disappointed” by the decision and warned of severe financial consequences for the sport, arguing the checks would push punters towards the illegal market.

The BHA has said it will work with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the Gambling Commission and the betting industry to limit the impact of the checks as they are rolled out. With the tax settlement for racing secured for now but affordability checks still to be phased in, Davies’s parliamentary experience on both betting and racing gives the racecourse side of the sport a seasoned political voice on the BHA board at a sensitive moment.

Maarten Haijer, who led the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) for 13 years, has been named director general of a new international industry body, the World Gaming and Betting Alliance (WGBA).

The WGBA announced the appointment on 9 October. It describes itself as “a global alliance of regulated gaming and betting operators, industry associations, and other stakeholders”. It is set up as a non-profit association under Swiss law and will be based in Geneva. Its website lists bet365, Entain, Flutter, FDJ United and EGBA as members, and names EGBA as one of its founding members.

A global lobby for regulated markets

The alliance says it will promote “fair, effective and proportionate” regulatory frameworks that protect consumers, reduce gambling-related harm, support integrity in regulated markets and tackle illegal gambling. It plans to work with governments, regulators, law enforcement, public health bodies and international institutions under three themes: making the case for regulated gambling, promoting safer play and tackling illegal gambling.

“At WGBA, we aim to unite the international gaming and betting community around the shared purpose of championing effective regulation, high industry standards, and evidence-led policy,” Haijer said in a LinkedIn post announcing his new role.

“The global regulatory landscape is evolving fast. The case for well-regulated markets has never been more important, both for consumers and for the societies in which they operate,” he added.

The WGBA’s governance structure consists of a general assembly of members, a board appointed by the assembly, and a secretariat. It has not yet named a chair or board members. Haijer is the only staff member listed on its website. According to his comments reported in the trade press, a formal launch is planned in Geneva in November, alongside the alliance’s first flagship report. While the body is being set up, EGBA administers its website.

From Brussels to Geneva

Haijer joined EGBA in 2008 as director of regulatory affairs and became secretary general in 2013. Before that he worked at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and at the Netherlands’ Permanent Representation to the EU. EGBA credits him with helping to open European markets to regulated competition and with setting up European Safer Gambling Week.

The Brussels-based association announced his departure on 27 August. Pierre Tournier, a senior director who joined EGBA in November 2025 after senior roles at the Betting and Gaming Council and the Remote Gambling Association, has been interim secretary general since 1 September.

“The growth of the illegal market remains the biggest threat to players and to the regulated sector alike,” Tournier said on taking over.

Why it matters

The WGBA’s listed members include several of the largest regulated operators in Europe and North America, and its leadership comes from EGBA. That suggests the major groups want a single voice in international debates that go beyond the EU, from the spread of unlicensed offshore gambling to the treatment of prediction markets and new licensing regimes in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Other international bodies already cover parts of the sector. The World Lottery Association represents state lotteries, and the International Betting Integrity Association focuses on match-fixing and suspicious betting. None of the listed operators has yet publicly commented on its membership. The make-up of the WGBA board, and whether more operators and associations join before the November launch, will show how far its reach extends.

The Gambling Commission has started recruiting a permanent chief executive, offering a salary of around £190,000. The post has been without a permanent holder since Andrew Rhodes left in April.

The advert, run by executive search firm GatenbySanderson, closes at noon on 23 October. Preliminary interviews are scheduled for 5 to 13 November, followed by assessments and informal conversations in the last two weeks of November. A final in-person panel and a stakeholder engagement exercise will be held on 9 December.

The role is based in Birmingham on a hybrid basis, with national and international travel. The successful candidate must hold, or be eligible for, Developed Vetting security clearance.

A period of change

The job description says the new chief executive will lead the regulator through “a significant period of change”, overseeing reforms arising from the Gambling Act Review and positioning the Commission as a forward-looking regulator in an “increasingly digital and data-driven market”. The role also covers National Lottery regulation and accounting officer duties. It calls for a national and international profile, including work with overseas regulators on what the advert calls “the threat from illegal gambling”.

Candidates are expected to have led a large, complex organisation and a digital or data-driven transformation, and to show commercial acumen, political awareness and resilience under public scrutiny. Previous chief executive or accounting officer experience and a regulatory or public-sector background are described as advantageous rather than essential.

Under the Gambling Act 2005, the Commission’s board appoints the chief executive. The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport must consent to the terms and conditions of employment.

Leadership reshuffle

The recruitment completes a wider change at the top of the regulator. Rhodes announced in February that he would leave on 30 April to take up a new role, ending nearly five years in charge. He joined as interim chief executive in June 2021 and was made permanent in May 2022, leading the Commission through the implementation of the 2023 gambling white paper.

“It has been a privilege to lead the Gambling Commission through such an important period of change,” Rhodes said at the time. Deputy chief executive Sarah Gardner has been acting chief executive since his departure.

Ruth Evans, former chair of the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority and current chair of Stop Scams UK, began a five-year term as chair on 30 September. She replaced interim chair Charles Counsell. Over the summer, Tim Miller, executive director for policy and research, announced he was leaving, and Sarah Fox was seconded from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to lead policy, research and National Lottery regulation.

What the next chief executive inherits

The new chief executive will take over as the white paper programme reaches what the Commission has called its “final stages”. Measures already in place or being phased in include financial risk checks, stake limits on online slots, a cap on bonus wagering requirements and tighter controls on online game design. The statutory gambling levy, which the Commission has collected since April 2025, has replaced voluntary industry contributions to research, prevention and treatment.

The incoming leader will also oversee a new corporate strategy and the Commission’s push against illegal gambling. When Evans was appointed, Counsell described that work as “world leading”. With a final panel set for 9 December, the appointment is unlikely to be confirmed before the start of 2027.