Pressure grows for ban on gambling ads on London Underground
Five more London councils have joined the campaign for a ban on gambling ads on the tube.
UK.- Mayor Sadiq Khan pledged to ban gambling ads on the London Underground way back in 2021. Almost five years later, authorities are increasing the pressure to make that a reality.
Five more London councils – Barnet, Brent, Enfield, Hackney and Lewisham – have announced that they have joined the Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA). The campaign group was founded at the start of 2025 to push for a reduction in gambling ads in various areas, and London’s underground transport system remains a particular focus.
Haringey Council was the first to join CEGA in January. Among the latest members, Barnet, Brent, Enfield and Lewisham have also been vocal in their criticism of the amount of high-street gambling venues in the British capital. That’s despite figures showing that land-based gambling has actually declined over the past 15 years.
These were among the councils that joined a campaign in April calling for more powers for local authorities to reject planning applications for gambling venues. With 38 signatures in total, that campaign also called for more local control over the placement of gambling adverts.
Brent has been one of the most active councils in this area, commissioning its own studies into gambling harm. It has 77 licensed high-street betting permits, as does Enfield. Haringey has 63, Barnet 61, Lewisham 53, and Hackney, which wasn’t involved in the previous campaign, has 43.
The Gambling Commission’s latest report on the size of the British gambling sector contradicts the argument that the number of high-street betting shops is increasing. There were 8,872 premises in 2009, but just 5,825 in March 2025.
It’s expected that major operators such as Evoke (William Hill), Flutter (Paddy Power), Entain (Ladbrokes) and Betfred will close more betting shops to cut costs following the UK gambling tax rise announced last week.
