Billionaire media mogul Richard Desmond has called on the High Court to “err on the side of generosity” as he pursues a £1.3 billion damages claim against the UK Gambling Commission over the controversial National Lottery licence competition.
The former owner of the Daily Express and Asian Babes is suing the Gambling Commission through his firms, Northern & Shell and the New Lottery Company, claiming that regulators made “manifest errors” during the complex bidding process for Britain’s most valuable public sector contract.
Desmond’s lawsuit challenges the decision to award the 10-year National Lottery licence to Allwyn, the Czech-owned operator led by billionaire Karel Komárek, which took over running the draw in 2024. His legal team argues that the competition was flawed on several counts and that the contract should have been rerun because significant changes were made after the award.
The Dubai-based businessman is seeking up to £1.3 billion in damages. Any payout of this scale would likely come at the expense of the National Lottery’s fund for good causes, which receives around £30 million a week from ticket sales. If the fund cannot cover the amount, the remainder would have to be paid by taxpayers.
According to court filings, Desmond’s lawyers will argue that legal precedent requires the court to “err if anything on the side of the claimant” when calculating damages, should it find the regulator at fault for creating uncertainty over what would have happened if the process had been conducted differently.
The Gambling Commission insists its selection process was rigorous and fair, maintaining that Desmond’s bid was “fanciful” and scored “extremely badly” compared with Allwyn’s. The current operator, Allwyn, has joined the case in support of the Commission, stating that its reputation could be damaged if the court rules that it should not have won.
Desmond, who reportedly spent £17.5 million preparing his failed bid, previously rejected a settlement offer from the Commission said to be worth around £10 million.
The case, which could have major financial implications for both taxpayers and lottery-funded charities, opens today at the High Court in London.
