A legal dispute regarding the award of the United Kingdom’s National Lottery licence is scheduled to begin at the High Court. Entities owned by media billionaire Richard Desmond, Northern & Shell and The New Lottery Company (TNLC), are suing the Gambling Commission for up to £1.3 billion.
The lawsuit alleges “manifest errors” in the competition process for the substantial public sector contract. Desmond’s legal team contends that the Gambling Commission wrongly assessed TNLC’s bid as failing crucial criteria, imposed undisclosed requirements, and withheld feedback during the initial phase, which could have enabled bid improvement. They claim these issues led to £17.5 million being wasted on their bidding efforts. Earlier, Mr. Desmond reportedly rejected a settlement offer from the commission valued at approximately £10 million.
The Gambling Commission plans to defend its process as “robust,” having asserted in prior legal filings that Desmond’s bid was “fanciful” and scored “extremely badly” within the rigorous competition. The potential financial ramifications of the case for taxpayers are estimated to be hundreds of millions of pounds. Ahead of the High Court proceedings, the Gambling Commission, Allwyn (the new licence holder), and a representative for Richard Desmond all declined to provide comment.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/05/richard-desmond-legal-action-over-national-lottery-award-to-begin-at-high-court