Vicky Foxcroft has taken over as the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s parliamentary under-secretary of state for Museums, Heritage, Gambling and Lords, giving her responsibility for gambling and horseracing. The appointment replaces Baroness Fiona Twycross and puts Foxcroft in post as affordability checks remain a live issue for betting and racing.
As reported in July, DCMS had named Baroness Fiona Twycross gambling minister after a day of uncertainty over whether she would keep the brief. Twycross had overseen the government’s gambling white paper and the rollout of financial risk assessments.
iGaming Business says Foxcroft was appointed as the parliamentary under-secretary of state for Museums, Heritage, Gambling and Lords with oversight of DCMS. Lisa Nandy remains Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The Gambling Commission says DCMS ministers are accountable to Parliament for matters concerning the regulator, and the relationship is set out in the Gambling Act 2005 and the National Lottery etc. Act 1993.
The British Horseracing Authority has already moved to engage the new minister. It wants an early discussion with Foxcroft and says it is seeking an urgent meeting to spell out its concerns about affordability checks, after the Gambling Commission confirmed last month that the measures will go ahead in 2027.
Foxcroft arrives with a clear record on gambling policy. She has backed lower stakes on fixed-odds betting terminals, a ban on gambling advertising during live sport, a ban on credit-card gambling and the power for banks to block online gambling transactions by problem gamblers. In 2025, she was among 31 MPs who signed an early day motion challenging the ‘aim to permit’ rule, which had limited councils’ ability to reject applications for new gambling premises.
She has also supported the statutory gambling levy introduced in November 2024, under which licence holders contribute between 0.2% and 1.1% of annual gross gambling yield to research and gambling-harm prevention. Her public record on horseracing appears more limited, though she supported a World Horse Welfare campaign against horse tethering and has called for the highest standards in equine welfare.
The Betting and Gaming Council welcomed her appointment but urged ministers to consider the cumulative impact of regulation and recent tax increases. Grainne Hurst, its chief executive, said the industry wanted to work with Foxcroft on the illegal gambling black market, which she said puts consumers at risk and contributes nothing to the economy or British sport.
