No10 worried that Major himself might win Lottery
Newly released letters reveal how government saw pitfalls in launch along with an opportunity
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DOWNING Street was worried John Major might inadvertently win the first National Lottery draw and made contingency plans to avoid embarrassment, declassified documents reveal.
Unease was building among Whitehall officials as Mr Major and his ministers bought tickets to help promote the lottery launch in 1994, according to correspondence newly released by the National Archives.
While the inaugural draw was considered a “major opportunity” for the Tories to build support, aides feared it would be “unhelpful” if senior MPS, particularly the then prime minister, were seen to be among early winners.
Guidance was hastily drawn up by the Department of National Heritage, telling ministers that Mr Major was donating his lottery ticket to charity and they should follow suit.
John Kingman, a private secretary in the National Heritage department, wrote in a note to Mr Major’s office: “The lottery will be a secure operation: no individual will be in a position to influence the outcome of the draw. There is therefore no propriety issue.
“But it would still be awkward presentationally if a minister were to win a major prize.”
The chances of such an outcome were almost comically remote, with the odds of winning even a three-figure sum in the first draw at 55,491-1.
Nevertheless, Mr Major was asked to weigh in on whether ministers should be able to keep prize money or be forced to donate it to charity.
Officials fretted about allowing ministers to decide individually if the rule applied to their families, with future Cabinet minister Damian Green warning of “a journalistic ring-round revealing different standards”.
More than 22million people tuned in to the BBC to watch the first draw of the National Lottery on Nov 19, 1994, when seven ticketholders shared a £5.9 million jackpot – £839,254 each.
The government-backed lottery was viewed as a boost to Mr Major’s administration, which was struggling to contain surging Labour popularity due to what it described as “the Blair factor”.
Downing Street officials planned the launch meticulously to ensure that Mr Major reaped as much good will from the initiative as possible.
However, proposals for him to take part in the first televised draw were rejected. “It would look tacky and awkward,” Christopher Meyer, his press secretary, warned.
Mr Green, then a Downing Street aide, said that “even presenting a cheque to an early winner feels more like a Private Eye cover than a positive photocall”.
Another official, Alex Allan, warned they could be struck by a backlash of “bad news stories”. Suggesting the type of headlines that could await, he wrote: “The single mother who spends the food money on lottery tickets, the bureaucracy that takes ages to pay out lottery proceeds to deserving causes.”
The honour of starting the first draw was eventually won in a competition by 18-year-old Deborah Walsh. No ministers won prizes.
In the days that followed, Denis Vaughan, the conductor who lobbied for the National Lottery to be created, wrote to the Director-general of the BBC to complain about its broadcast.
“There is no sign of any distinguished sight or sound on the programme so far,” he said in the letter to John Birt, which was part of the National Archives release.
Mr Vaughan suggested “light classical music” should be used in the broadcast and expressed hope that the Prince of Wales could become the president of “one big charity” for the lottery.
‘Even presenting a cheque to an early winner feels more like a Private Eye cover than a positive photocall’