Brits Overwhelmingly Support Ban on Political Betting by Politicians

Earlier this year, a betting-related scandal erupted in the UK. Ahead of the General Election which took place early in July, media reports alleged that police officers and politicians, who had access to insider information, placed bets on the date of the election.

Overall, nearly two dozen people, nine of which directly involved in politics, were suspected of using insider information, after an investigation by the Met police, the UK Gambling Commission and media outlets. Strangely enough, representatives of the Conservatives and Labor were both involved in the massive betting scandal.

In light of the accusations, a new survey sought to determine the views of Brits and how they feel about politicians gambling. The survey, conducted by YouGov for OLBG, collected the responses of nearly 2,300 Brits, all above the age of 18 and was conducted online in mid-August.

Based on the results, an overwhelming majority of the respondents supported the idea of imposing a complete ban on politicians from betting on political events. This was the response of approximately two thirds of the adult Brits who were interviewed or 76%.

Not unexpectedly, a solid percentage of the respondents supported the temporary ban of politicians from public office in cases they broke the ban related to betting on political events. Nearly half or 46% of the respondents supported such a measure, while 25% said that if a politician breaks the ban on political betting should be banned from public office for a lifetime.

More than Half of the Respondents Say Further Efforts Are Needed to Combat Gambling Harm
In addition, 68.5% of the respondents said that they would think “more negatively” about politicians who used insider knowledge to place bets on political events or topics.

The recent General Election and the betting scandal came at a time when the UK is considering an overhaul of its gambling sector. Among the changes are the establishment of a gambling ombudsman, the implementation of affordability checks and limits related to online casino games, among other changes that seek to combat gambling harm and addiction.

In that line of thought, some 60% of the young people between the ages of 18 and 24, who were interviewed by YouGov admitted that the government should be doing more to decrease gambling-related harm.

The betting scandal also resulted in doubts about the former and current government. Some 34% of the Brits who were recently interviewed admitted that they lost trust in the previous Conservative government due to the scandal. On the other hand, some 27% felt that the new Labor government is unlikely to better regulate the gambling sector when compared to the Conservatives.