The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom.

It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007.

The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the government of John Major in 1994.

Camelot Group are the operators of the UK National Lottery.

Camelot Group was awarded the National Lottery franchise in May 1994 (though the lottery did not start until November 1994) and was re-awarded the franchise in 2001 and again in 2007.

The current franchise period started in 2009 and runs until 2019, with a possible extension of up to five years.

The governmental body the Gambling Commission is responsible for deciding who is awarded the franchise.

The way the franchise was awarded to Camelot in 2001 caused some controversy, because state-owned Royal Mail held a 20% stake in the Camelot Group.

A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers for a prize.

Lotteries are outlawed by some governments, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery.

It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments; the most common regulation is prohibition of sale to minors, and vendors must be licensed to sell lottery tickets.

Though lotteries were common in the United States and some other countries during the 19th century, by the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling, including lotteries and sweepstakes, were illegal in the U.S. and most of Europe as well as many other countries.

This remained so until well after World War II.

In the 1960s casinos and lotteries began to re-appear throughout the world as a means for governments to raise revenue without raising taxes.