2023 by-elections: Lib Dems win Somerton and Frome after ex-Tory MP stood down following drug scandal
The Conservatives have lost the Somerton and Frome by-election to the Liberal Democrats.
The Lib Dem victory comes roughly a year after a similar result in the nearby Tiverton and Honiton by-election.
David Warburton stood down as the constituency’s MP last month, but shortly after it was found that an investigation into claims he sexually harassed someone was “materially flawed“.
However the MP – who had been suspended from the Conservative Party in parliament – did admit to drug use.
Follow by-election coverage live: Tories hang on in Uxbridge after ULEZ backlash
His seat has now been taken over by the Lib Dems‘ Sarah Dyke with a majority of 11,008. The Tory candidate was Faye Purbrick.
Ms Dyke received 21,187 votes, while the Conservatives took 10,179, the Greens 3,944, Reform 1,303 and Labour 1,009.
This equates to a 29 point swing to the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives have never had a lower share of the vote in the seat.
Unlike Tiverton and Honiton, the Lib Dems have held Somerton and Frome in recent memory.
Speaking after her win, Ms Dyke said: “Tonight has been a stunning and historic victory for the Liberal Democrats, and it shows once and for all, the Liberal Democrats are back in the West Country.
“Lifelong conservative voters have today voted Liberal Democrat for the first time. Thank you for putting your trust in me to deliver for you. I will not let you down.”
Mr Warburton only won the seat for the Conservatives in 2015 off coalition minister David Heath, who had held it for 18 years previously.
But this election still required a sizeable shift in opinion from 2019, as the Conservatives had been sitting on a majority of more than 19,000.
The seat is largely older than average and has been less exposed to interest rate rises due to a lower number of mortgage-holders, with 43% of homes being owned without a loan. But the momentum had been swinging away from the Tories in the region.
David Warburton stood down as an MP
The 2022 council elections saw sizeable falls in the Conservative wards in the region, with the Lib Dems claiming first place in 10 of 13 seats and taking 40% of the vote.
The Tories won just one ward; the other two were taken by the Greens.
SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, expected to leave the agency in less than a month, used one of her final public speaking engagements to address the regulator’s response to digital assets.
Speaking at a Brookings Institution event on Thursday, Crenshaw said standards at the SEC had “eroded” in the last year, with “markets [starting] to look like casinos,” and “chaos” as the agency dismissed many years-long enforcement cases, reduced civil penalties and filed fewer actions overall.
The commissioner, expected to depart in January after her term officially ended in June 2024, also criticized many crypto users and the agency’s response to the markets.
“People invest in crypto because they see some others getting rich overnight,” said Crenshaw. “Less visible are the more common stories of people losing their shirts. One thing that consistently puzzles me about crypto is what are cryptocurrency prices based on? Many, but not all, crypto purchasers are not trading based on economic fundamentals.”
She added:
“I think it’s safe to say [crypto purchasers are] speculating, reacting to hysteria from promoters, feeding a desire to gamble, wash trading to push up prices, or, as one Nobel laureate has posited, ‘betting on the popularity of the politicians who support or stand to benefit from the success of crypto.’”
In contrast to Crenshaw’s remarks, SEC Chair Paul Atkins, Commissioner Hester Peirce and Commissioner Mark Uyeda have all publicly expressed their support for the agency’s approach to digital assets and the Trump administration’s direction of policy.
Peirce and Atkins spoke at a Blockchain Association Policy Summit this week to discuss crypto regulation and a path forward on market structure under consideration in the Senate.
Related: Crypto industry fears ‘vehemently anti crypto’ Caroline Crenshaw SEC vote
During the Thursday event’s question-and-answer session, Crenshaw expanded on her views of crypto, stating that it was a “tiny piece of the market,” and suggested that the SEC focus on other regulatory concerns. In addition, she expressed concern that the agency was heading toward giving crypto companies an exception from policies that applied to traditional finance.
“I do worry that as the crypto rules are perhaps implemented, or perhaps we just put out more guidance […] where we say they are not securities, where we loosen the basic fundamentals of the securities laws so that they can operate in our system, but without any of the guardrails that we have in place. I do worry that that can lead to more significant market contagion,” said Crenshaw.
The final throes of bipartisan financial regulators under Trump?
The departure of Crenshaw would leave the SEC with three Republican commissioners, two of whom were nominated by US President Donald Trump. As of Thursday, Trump had not made any announcements signaling that he ever planned to nominate another Democrat to the SEC, and Crenshaw said the agency’s staff had been reduced by about 20% in the last year.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also faces a dearth of leadership, with many commissioners leaving the agency in 2025. As of December, acting Chair Caroline Pham was the sole remaining CFTC commissioner and a Republican. However, the US Senate is soon expected to vote on Trump’s nominee, Michael Selig, to chair the agency after Pham.
Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice
The Belarusian Ministry of Information has blocked access to crypto exchanges Bybit, OKX, Bitget, Gate, Bingx and Weex, it said on Thursday.
According to a government announcement, the ministry has restricted access to the global domains of several crypto exchanges, citing “inappropriate advertising” under Article 511 of the Law on Mass Media.
Cointelegraph reached out to the blocked exchanges but had not received responses at the time of publication.
Belarus is a close ally of Russia on the world stage. The domain restriction comes on the same day that Vladimir Chistyukhin, first deputy chairman at the Central Bank of Russia, told state-backed outlet RIA Novosti that it “agreed to allow qualified investors” into the crypto market. The remarks build on recent reports that the institution was considering easing restrictions on cryptocurrencies in response to the sweeping sanctions imposed on the country.
Russia disclosed plans in late April to allow crypto access only to “super-qualified investors,” defined by wealth and income thresholds of over 100 million rubles ($1.2 million) or an annual income of at least 50 million rubles ($630,000), effectively limiting participation to high-net-worth individuals.
Related: EU sanctions Russian A7A5 stablecoin and crypto exchanges
Russia’s central bank sees crypto’s utility
Chistyukhin said a “crucial point that cannot be ignored” is that “cryptocurrencies are currently being used not only as an investment but also as a means of cross-border payments.” His comments echoed recent statements over allowing broader crypto access in Russia as a response to the international sanctions:
“We certainly want to protect Russian retail investors as much as possible from transactions with such a risky asset. On the other hand, we understand that, under the current circumstances, some international payments can only be made using cryptocurrency.“
Chistyukhin said there are currently about one million qualified investors able to access crypto assets in Russia, noting that investors would also be assessed on their knowledge of cryptocurrencies. He conceded that allowing non-qualified investors to access crypto is on the table, but said it would require extreme caution.
“Specifically, such investors could be granted access only to the most liquid instruments,” he said.
Chistyukhin highlighted the need for “establishing strict restrictions and prohibitions” and said “it’s expected that cryptocurrency transactions will be conducted primarily through existing market participants, under existing licenses,” adding that “anything outside this framework will be considered illegal.“
Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice
Trust Wallet, the self-custodial crypto wallet owned by Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, has partnered with European fintech unicorn and digital banking giant Revolut to introduce a new way to purchase crypto assets on its platform.
Trust Wallet users can now buy Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) with Revolut through a direct integration, the company announced on Thursday.
With a minimum purchase starting at 10 euros ($12) and capped at 23,000 euros ($26,950) daily and per transaction, Trust Wallet’s new buy option is expected to provide a faster and easier way to access crypto from Europe.
In October, Revolut scored regulatory approval from the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission to offer crypto services across 30 European Economic Area markets in compliance with the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) framework.
Stablecoins like USDC not supported, for now
The integration will initially support only three crypto assets, but the companies said they expect to add stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC (USDC) at a later stage.
The feature enables zero-fee crypto purchases using multiple fiat currencies supported by Revolut, including the euro, the British pound, as well as the Czech koruna, Danish Krone, Polish Złoty and others.
While Revolut–Trust Wallet crypto purchases are offered with zero fees, adding money to a Revolut account is not free of charge in many cases, including via bank transfers, card top-ups and cash deposits. Cash deposits are subject to a 1.5% fee and are limited to $3,000 per calendar month, according to Revolut’s FAQs.
Related: Crypto self-custody is a fundamental right, says SEC’s Hester Peirce
The integration came shortly after Revolut secured a $75 billion company valuation after completing a private share sale in late November. “This makes us Europe’s most valuable private company and in the top 10 of the world’s most valuable private companies,” Revolut said in a post on X.
CZ-backed Trust Wallet has been actively tapping into trending market sectors, including prediction markets and real-world asset tokenization, expanding access to these offerings for self-custody users.
Cointelegraph contacted Revolut and Trust Wallet for comment on the integration, but had not received a response by publication.
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