Philip Davies MP: Who Is He and What Are His Links to the Gambling Industry?

Philip Davies is one of the most controversial figures in UK gambling politics. A Conservative MP who represented Shipley in West Yorkshire from 2005 until losing his seat in July 2024, Davies repeatedly defended the gambling industry in Parliament while receiving tens of thousands of pounds in consultancy fees and hospitality from the same companies he spoke up for.

He was co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Betting and Gaming, wrote to ministers on behalf of a luxury London casino, and has placed bets on his own election results on at least two occasions. This is the complete picture.

PHILIP DAVIES – KEY FACTS:

• Full name: Sir Philip Andrew Davies
• Born: 5 January 1972, Doncaster
• MP: Conservative, Shipley (West Yorkshire) 2005 to 30 May 2024
• Lost his seat: July 2024 general election (Labour’s Anna Dixon won by 8,603 votes)
• Married to: Esther McVey, Conservative MP for Tatton
• Pre-parliament career: Asda (marketing), previously worked in a bookmakers
• Industry payments: Over £57,000 in consultancy fees and hospitality from Entain (Ladbrokes/Coral owners)
• APPG role: Co-Chair, Betting and Gaming APPG (took over from Scott Benton after Benton’s suspension)
• Knighthood: Awarded in June 2024 in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list

Background: Who Is Philip Davies?

Philip Andrew Davies was born in Doncaster in January 1972 and grew up in West Yorkshire. He graduated from the University of Huddersfield and worked as a Senior Marketing Manager at Asda in Leeds before entering politics.

Significantly, he also worked for a bookmaker before becoming an MP, an early connection to the gambling industry that would define much of his parliamentary career.

Davies was first elected in May 2005 for the Shipley constituency, overturning a Labour majority against the odds (he later admitted he had bet on himself to lose).

He was re-elected at every subsequent general election until 2024, building a profile as one of the Conservative Party’s most rebellious backbenchers and a vocal opponent of political correctness, EU membership, and gambling regulation.

In the July 2024 general election, Davies lost his Shipley seat to Labour candidate Anna Dixon by a margin of 8,603 votes, a swing of more than 23 percentage points against him.

He left the House of Commons on 30 May 2024, having received a knighthood in Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours list.

His Role in the Betting and Gaming APPG

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Betting and Gaming was the parliamentary body most closely associated with the UK gambling industry’s lobbying efforts.

Philip Davies had been a member of the APPG since at least 2015, serving on a group alongside members including Scott Benton, Laurence Robertson, and others who received significant gifts and hospitality from gambling operators.

The APPG was chaired by Scott Benton until April 2023, when Benton was filmed by journalists apparently offering to raise Parliamentary questions on behalf of a gambling company in exchange for payment.

After Benton had the Conservative whip suspended, Davies was promoted to Co-Chair of the APPG, a move documented by Internet Archive records. The APPG ceased to exist after the publication of the Gambling White Paper in April 2023.

Before its closure, the APPG had been publicly combative toward gambling reform. In 2022, it branded the UK Gambling Commission ‘an under-performing regulator’ and called for it to be placed in ‘special measures’.

It also stated that the UKGC’s attempts to reduce problem gambling risked the ‘destruction of one of the world’s best gambling industries’, a formulation that critics argued prioritised industry protection over player safety.

The Entain Payments: £57,000+ in Consultancy and Hospitality

The most extensively documented aspect of Davies’s relationship with the gambling industry involves Entain Holdings, the company that owns Ladbrokes, Coral, Bwin, and other major betting brands.

Since becoming an MP, Davies received over £57,000 in consultancy fees and hospitality from Entain, according to research cited by the Good Law Project and the Guardian. The declared payments included advisory consultancy described as relating to ‘safer gambling and customer service’.

Two of Davies’s former political aides had also moved on to work for Entain, a pattern of movement between a politician’s office and a major corporate interest that critics of the revolving door in politics identify as deeply problematic.

Davies also received regular hospitality from gambling companies in the form of tickets and trips, including attendance at Royal Ascot, Wimbledon, and the Cheltenham Festival.

All of these were declared in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as required by parliamentary rules. Davies did not conceal these interests, but critics argued that the volume and regularity of these benefits created a conflict of interest in his parliamentary activity.

Lobbying Ministers: The Les Ambassadeurs Letters

In April 2023, the Good Law Project published documents revealing that Davies had written to the then-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lucy Frazer, on three occasions during her first month in office.

The letters, written on official House of Commons headed paper, praised the Les Ambassadeurs club at a Mayfair casino catering to ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

The Good Law Project argued that Davies’s lobbying appeared to have succeeded. The Gambling White Paper, published shortly after, confirmed a ‘limited change’ to the Gambling Act permitting casinos to offer credit to non-UK residents, specifically referring to ‘wealthy overseas visitors in the high-end sector’.

The Les Ambassadeurs casino is precisely the type of establishment that would benefit from such a change.

Davies’s position as writing ministerial letters praising a specific casino while receiving fees from Entain, which owns multiple gambling brands, led to significant criticism from gambling reform advocates and parliamentary standards campaigners.

Calling the UKGC ‘Not Fit for Purpose’

Davies’s most public intervention in gambling regulation came in January 2023, when he publicly called the UK Gambling Commission ‘not fit for purpose’ over its approach to affordability checks.

The context was a Racing Post story about high-stakes bettors having their accounts restricted after bookmakers requested financial documentation under UKGC affordability guidelines.

Davies argued that the UKGC was pressurising bookmakers into requesting sensitive financial information from customers who had given no indication of problem gambling a view shared by some recreational high-stakes bettors and racing industry figures.

His statement was welcomed by the Betting and Gaming Council and criticised by gambling harm charities, who argued that affordability checks are a necessary tool to protect vulnerable customers from harm.

The Election Betting Controversy

In June 2024, The Sun reported that Davies had placed an £8,000 bet on whether he would lose his Shipley seat in the upcoming general election.

Davies did not fully deny the report, telling journalists ‘What’s it got to do with you whether I did or didn’t?’ He acknowledged that he had previously bet on himself to lose when he first ran in Shipley in 2005, and had lost his money when he unexpectedly won.

The 2024 election betting story emerged as a separate scandal involving Conservative candidates and party staff, as multiple people connected to the Conservative Party were investigated for placing bets on the election date using knowledge unavailable to the public.

Davies was not at the centre of that broader scandal, but his own £8,000 wager attracted significant media attention given his prominent profile as a gambling industry defender.

He did indeed lose his Shipley seat in July 2024, beaten by Labour’s Anna Dixon by 8,603 votes, a result that ended his 19-year parliamentary career.

The 2024 Knighthood

Philip Davies was awarded a knighthood in the June 2024 dissolution honours list, Rishi Sunak’s resignation honours, ahead of the general election. The award attracted criticism from gambling reform advocates and transparency campaigners who noted the timing, given his industry associations.

Davies’s wife, Esther McVey, who retained her Tatton seat in the 2024 election, remained active in Conservative politics. Davies himself left the House of Commons when Parliament was dissolved on 30 May 2024.

Why Do People Search for Philip Davies?

The high search volume for ‘Philip Davies’ in 2026 reflects continued public interest in the intersection of gambling lobbying and parliamentary behaviour, an issue that has grown in prominence since the 2023 Scott Benton scandal and the subsequent Gambling White Paper.

Davies is one of the most cited examples in ongoing debates about the regulation of gambling industry lobbying and the transparency of APPG funding arrangements.

He also appears in searches related to Esther McVey (his wife and current MP), the 2024 election betting scandal (where his name appeared in a subsidiary context), and broader stories about the UK Gambling Act reform process.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Philip Davies?

Sir Philip Davies is a former Conservative MP who represented Shipley in West Yorkshire from 2005 to 2024. He was co-chair of the Betting and Gaming APPG and received over £57,000 in payments and hospitality from Entain (Ladbrokes/Coral). He lost his Shipley seat in the July 2024 general election, beaten by Labour’s Anna Dixon.

What is Philip Davies’s connection to gambling?

Davies worked in a bookmaker’s before entering politics, was a long-standing member and later co-chair of the Betting and Gaming APPG, received consultancy fees from Entain, lobbied ministers on behalf of the casino industry, and publicly criticised the UKGC’s affordability check programme.

How much did Philip Davies receive from the gambling industry?

Over £57,000 in consultancy fees and hospitality from Entain Holdings alone, according to research cited by the Good Law Project and the Guardian. Additional hospitality (Cheltenham, Royal Ascot, Wimbledon) was declared separately in his Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Did Philip Davies lose his seat?

Yes. In the July 2024 general election, Davies lost his Shipley seat to Labour’s Anna Dixon by a majority of 8,603 votes, a swing of over 23 percentage points against him. He left the House of Commons on 30 May 2024.

Who is Philip Davies married to?

Philip Davies is married to Esther McVey, the Conservative MP for Tatton. They married in 2020. McVey is a former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and a prominent Conservative politician in her own right.

What happened to the Betting and Gaming APPG?

The APPG on Betting and Gaming ceased to exist after the publication of the Gambling White Paper in April 2023. Its last chair was Scott Benton, who was suspended from the Conservative Party after being filmed offering to lobby on behalf of a gambling company. Davies had been promoted to Co-Chair after Benton’s suspension.