UK MPs raise over £15,000 for national good causes via Grand National scheme

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The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has revealed that its ‘Grand National charity bet’ campaign raised £15,375 for domestic causes. 

This figure represents a new record for donations to the fund – as 58 parliamentarians placed bets on the Saturday of this year’s Grand National. That figure included seven ministers and, notably, the defence secretary, Rt Hon John Healey MP.

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Shadow gambling minister, Louie French, culture media and sport select committee member, James Frith and deputy speaker, Caroline Nokes, also threw their hats in the ring.

Participating parliament members were invited to visit various major bookmakers located within their respective constituencies to place bets.

William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfred and Paddy Power all served as eligible operators in this charitable scheme – with the BGC thrashing out deals with each bookmaker as part of the event. 

In addition to placing charitable bets, MPs discussed with operators a range of safer gambling measures currently enforced across online and shop-based verticals.

As a result of the BGC’s agreement with these bookmakers, all winnings acquired by parliament members were handed over to the MP’s selected charity. 

However, victory for the Patrick Mullins-trained 33/1 outsider, Nick Rockett, saw none of the 58 parliamentarians land a win. Conservative MPs, Ashley Fox and Sir Christopher Chope joined Labour MP, Mike Reader, in backing an each way bet on the fifth-place finisher, Meetingofthewaters.

Prepared for such an outcome, the BGC arranged to pledge £250 to each selected charity in the event that MPs fail to correctly back the winning runner. This, combined with winnings accrued from each way wagers and other minor returns, meant that the BGC-organised fund took £15,375 for UK charities. 

Causes set to receive cash contributions include Parkinson’s UK, East Durham Veteran’s Trust and Ryedale Special Families.

BGC CEO, Grainne Hurst, voiced her thoughts on a “fantastic” year for the group’s event: “It’s been a fantastic record-breaking year for our charity bet with 58 parliamentarians taking part from right across the political divide.

“Millions of people enjoyed a bet on the race showing once again that, for so many of us, having a flutter is a part of our great British culture.

Hurst continued to laud betting shop employees, saying: “I visited a number of betting shops in recent weeks and I want to pay tribute to all the thousands of people who work in them to help support our hard-pressed high streets. 

“I would like to thank all those MPs who took part for supporting so many good causes. I would also like to thank all of our members for once again getting behind this great initiative”.

This month’s Grand National charity bet marks the second occasion that the BGC has collaborated with governmental representatives in 2025. Earlier in April, the regulatory body for gambling partook in a roundtable to discuss relevant industry issues at the House of Commons.