Gambling Commission names fraud specialist as new full-time chair

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced on Monday that Ruth Evans has succeeded Charles Counsell to take on the full time role of Gambling Commission chair.

Counsell took the helm in February 2025 following Marcus Boyle’s departure in January last year.

Evans, who chairs Stop Scams UK, an initiative she founded in 2019 to unite banks, technology companies and telecom providers to combat payment fraud, will assume the position on 30 September, commencing a five-year term.

The DCMS has said she brings extensive experience from her long-standing career in public protection and financial crime prevention.

Her previous leadership roles include chairing the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA), the Bar Standards Board, and acting as a lay member of the General Medical Council. 

Evans also served as a non-executive director of the Serious Fraud Office. She led the steering group responsible for a voluntary industry code that reimburses victims of authorised push payment (APP) scams, introduced in 2018.

What’s next for the Gambling Commission

Ahead of his departure Counsell said the Commission was developing a new strategy and ramping up its work to tackle illegal gambling, with Evans set to play a “pivotal” role as it also finalises measures from the Gambling Act review’s subsequent white paper.

Evans said she was commitment to enhancing “online safety” through “proportionate regulation with partnership and shared responsibility” involving regulators, industry participants and technology firms.

“She becomes chair at this incredibly important time, supporting a sustainable, thriving industry with the essential protections needed to prevent harm,” DCMS Secretary of State Lisa Nandy commented on the appointment.

The appointment lands amid a broader reshuffle at the regulator, with policy and research director Tim Miller also departing after a decade in post.