Who runs the lottery?

No one, you shouldn't gamble.

Simply untrue, there can be lots of potential parties who benefit from the lottery and not just the players, The UK National Lottery gives a huge percentage of the ticket sales to charities each week, in many cases these donations are far greater than assistance from the government or direct contributions from the public. With the exception of a very small minority, the small risk of £1 offers one of the few opportunities many people will ever have to completely change their lives, no matter how small that chance is.