In February 2020, with the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader heating up, Keir Starmer’s office received a helping hand.
Peter Coates, the head of the dynasty behind Stoke-based online gambling company Bet365, donated £25,000 to Starmer’s office.
Coates and the Bet365 group had been regular donors to Labour until 2015, to the tune of £490,000, but the money dried up in the Corbyn years, when Bet365 turned its attention to stopping Brexit, handing £512,500 to the campaign for Britain to remain in the EU.
The donation was a clear sign that the gambling industry spigot could easily be turned on again.
Now, of the 12 most recent political donations by the industry and its executives, all have gone to Labour – a total of…
