Marcus Boyle expected to chair Britain’s Gambling Commission

Marcus Boyle is expected to be confirmed as chair of the British regulator.

UK.- The Gambling Commission is expected to confirm Marcus Boyle as the new chairman of the Gambling Commission to replace Bill Moyes, whose term ends this year.

According to the Sunday Times, the government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) has selected Boyle, as “a more neutral appointment” and will make an official announcement soon.

Boyle, 55, is a former board member at the accountancy firm Deloitte, where he also served as chief strategy officer. He’s also chairman of the British American Drama Academy and is a trustee of the Serpentine Gallery.

The Racing Post says that Boyle’s former role at Deloitte led the DCMS to decide he was “likely to be seen as a positive for the betting industry.”

The DCMS was reportedly concerned that other candidates on the shortlist, including Lord Chadlington, may have been seen as negative by the industry because they belonged to organisations that had campaigned against gambling harm.

The Gambling Commission has come in for heavy criticism from politicians and the public in the last year. Julian Knight MP, chair of the UK government’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee, last week accused the regulator of trying to block an inquiry into its role as the National Lottery regulator.

Meanwhile, interim chief executive CEO Andrew Rhodes took to Twitter to respond to “angry messages” from the public over the commission’s handling of the collapse of Football Index.