Downing Street feared John Major may accidentally win the first National Lottery draw, previously secret correspondence shows
Downing Street was worried John Major may inadvertently win the first National Lottery and drew up contingency plans to avoid embarrassment, newly declassified documents have revealed.
Correspondence released by the National Archives showed unease building among Whitehall officials as ministers bought tickets to help promote the lottery launch in 1994.
While the inaugural draw was considered a “major opportunity” for the Tories to build support, aides feared it would be “unhelpful” if senior MPs were “seen to be among the early winners”.
Guidance was hastily drawn up by the Department of National Heritage, telling ministers that the Prime Minister 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.”
Such an outcome was almost comically remote, with the chances of winning even a three-figure sum in the first draw at 55,491 to one, according to operator Camelot.
The odds of securing a prize in the tens of thousands of pounds - by matching five balls plus the bonus - was 2,330,636 to one.
Nonetheless, the Prime Minister’s was asked to weigh in on whether ministers should be able to keep prize money “like any other citizen” 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 such an approach could unleash “a journalistic ring-round revealing different standards”.
More than 22 million people tuned in to BBC to watch the fist draw of the Government-backed National Lottery on November 19 1994, when seven people claimed the jackpot of £839,254.
It was viewed as a boost to the Government of Mr Major, which was struggling to contain surging Labour popularity due to what it described as the “Blair factor”.
Downing Street officials had been planning the launch meticulously to ensure the Prime Minister reaped as much good will from the initiative as possible.
During preparations, Christopher Meyer, Mr Major's press secretary, said there was a willingness "to exploit the Prime Minister's personal association" with the lottery by getting him to buy a ticket.
However, proposals for him to take part in the first televised draw - presented by Noel Edmonds - were firmly rejected by press advisers.
“It would look tacky and awkward,” Mr Meyer warned.
Similar concerns were voiced by Mr Green, then a Downing Street aide, who suggested “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" that might require the Prime Minister to have an arms-length association to the lottery.
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 eventually fell to 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 Burt, which was part of the National Archives release.
Mr Vaughan suggested “light classical music” should be used throughout the broadcast and expressed hope that Prince Charles could become the president of “one big charity” for the lottery.
