Sarah Fox is joining the Gambling Commission's Executive Team on secondment from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, the regulator announced on 29 July 2026. She will lead its Policy, Research and Statistics functions and take charge of National Lottery regulation.
Fox arrives from the department that sets gambling policy rather than enforces it. She led the DCMS gambling and lotteries team for four years, a period covering the Gambling Act review and the White Paper reforms that the Commission is now implementing. That places a senior architect of current policy on the regulator's side of the table.
"We are incredibly fortunate to have someone with Sarah's experience joining us," said Sarah Gardner, the Commission's Acting Chief Executive.
Fox said the move was one she was "really excited to take," adding that she wanted to "help the team continue making gambling safer, fairer and crime free."
The remit is significant. Combining policy, the Commission's research and statistics work, and National Lottery oversight puts Fox across three files that shape the market, including the data behind the Gambling Survey for Great Britain and the fourth National Lottery licence now run by Allwyn. The appointment also lands while the Commission operates under an acting chief executive, so a policy-heavy hire signals continuity on the reform agenda rather than a change of direction.