Speakers

Alex Ballinger MP is the Labour Member of Parliament for Halesowen, elected in July 2024. Before entering politics, Alex served as a Captain in the Royal Marines from 2005 to 2013, later working in international development across the Middle East and Pakistan with the FCDO. He later ran a mental health charity in Birmingham offering support to people experiencing mental health problems. Since entering Parliament, Alex has emerged as a vocal advocate for gambling reform. Alex has campaigned to tighten regulations on gambling advertising and improve protections for vulnerable individuals. He has raised questions in Parliament about the effectiveness of measures to prevent access to unlicensed online gambling platforms and continues to push for stronger consumer safeguards. Alex is a member of the APPG for Gambling Reform.

Jon Ungoed-Thomas has worked for the Observer since 2021, covering consumer affairs, business and politics. He previously worked at the Sunday Times for more than a decade, where he was deputy editor of the Insight investigation team and chief reporter. He has reported extensively on the gambling sector for the Sunday Times and the Observer. He was shortlisted in the British Journalism Awards 2018 for his investigations into young people and gambling which prompted the regulator to write to betting firms to request they remove promotions likely to appeal to children. He has been shortlisted as reporter of the year and business journalist of the year at the British Press Awards. He won scoop of the year with two colleagues in 2018.

Raffaello is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Bristol, specialising in the intersection of social media marketing, public policy, and consumer protection. He is also the Impact Lead at the Bristol Hub for Gambling Harms Research and a member of Ofcom’s Research, Evidence and Evaluation Working Group. Raffaello’s research on the effects of gambling advertising on young people has received widespread attention, featuring in national and international media such as The New York Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, Der Spiegel, and CBC News. His work has shaped parliamentary debates in the UK and Canada and contributed to major policy discussions and reforms concerning gambling marketing regulation. Beyond academia, Raffaello has collaborated with research organisations including YouGov, Ipsos, the Behavioural Insights Team, The Outsiders, and Demos, as well as key stakeholders such as GambleAware, YGAM, Ara, Beacon, GamCare, and the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Reform.

Maria Moxey is a Senior Research Associate for the University of Bristol Business School. With a disciplinary background in sport and sociology, Maria’s research interests include the intersection between sport, culture, and social issues. Maria is currently undertaking a study exploring how gambling interrelates with grassroots football culture. She is a member of a research team who has conducted a number of studies exploring the proliferation of gambling advertisement in televised sports events. Findings have informed policy debate among groups such as Peers for Gambling Reform, the Gambling-Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group, and the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, and received coverage via Channel 5 News, The Guardian, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Alistair is the Director and Founder of Deflect and Protect a non-profit training organisation focused on digital harms. Our goal is to create a world where positive internet behaviours can be embraced. He has a BA (Hons) degree in Education Studies, and over half a decade of experience working directly with teenagers as well as members of the autistic community.

Andy started gambling at the very young age of 9 years old. At the age of 13, his mum attempted to stage an intervention with the use of members from the local GA group. Early gambling centred around arcades in his hometown of Falmouth. On joining the Royal Navy in 1998, the use of fruit machines was exacerbated due to many cultural factors of the forces, as well as accessibility to both the machines and borrowing from banks.

Julie MacLeavy is Professor of Economic Geography at the University of Bristol and Co-Lead of the ‘Innovation, Transition, Change’ Challenge within the Academic Research Hub for the Prevention of Gambling Harms. She has a background of research exploring the challenges of socio-economic change and precarity. She is currently leading a project to explore gambling’s evolving role in seaside economies and its impact on local lives.

Jeffrey L. Derevensky, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus, former James McGill Professor and Director of Clinical Training in School/Applied Child Psychology and Professor, Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is a clinical and research consultant to numerous hospitals, school boards, government agencies and gaming corporations. Dr. Derevensky has published widely in the field of gambling, adolescence, behavioural addictions and developmental psychopathology. He is the author of more than 350 peer-reviewed journal articles, 65 book chapters and 4 books related to gambling disorders and behavioural addictions as well as being on the editorial board of multiple journals. He has been awarded multiple international awards for his research, clinical and training work. Dr. Derevensky is the Director of the McGill University Youth Gambling Research and Treatment Clinic and the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviours.

Dr Philip Newall is a lecturer at the University of Bristol's School of Psychological Science and has 20 years of experience in the topic of gambling. Their primary research interest is gambling psychology, where they have done research on various applied/policy issues and also done more theoretical work on the determinants of gambling-related harm.

Nikki leads the Gambling Harms Action Lab at the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute. She heads their work with financial services and the wider sector to tackle gambling-related financial harms. From May 2023 to April 2024, she was Interim Head of Research and Policy. Before this, Nikki worked as a Research Officer, leading their work to tackle mental health problems and financial difficulties in the debt advice sector, health services and the benefits system.