when did the national lottery start in uk
National Lottery (United Kingdom) A 1934 Act, further liberalised in 1956 and 1976, legalised small lotteries. The UK's state-franchised lottery was set up under government licence by the government of John Major in 1993.[5] The National Lottery is franchised to a private operator; the Camelot Group was awarded the franchise on 25 May 1994.[6] The first draw took place on 19 November 1994 with a television programme presented by Noel Edmonds. The first numbers drawn were 30, 3, 5, 44, 14 and 22, the bonus was 10, and seven jackpot winners shared a prize of Â£5,874,778.[7]