Image: Labour Deputy leader Angela Rayner meeting newly elected Labour MP Samantha Dixon in Chester
Rishi Sunak’s first by-election test as prime minister was also the first public vote since Boris Johnson and Liz Truss were forced out of Number 10.
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The contest was triggered by the resignation of Christian Matheson, the Labour MP who was suspended the previous October after two allegations of sexual misconduct from a former staff member were upheld.
Labour comfortably won the by-election, with its candidate Samantha Dixon keeping hold of the seat with 17,309 votes, a 60.8% share and nearly 11,000 more than the Conservative candidate.
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While Labour was expected to win the seat, which it has held uninterrupted since 2015, it represented the worst result for the Conservatives in Chester since 1832, with candidate Liz Wardlaw getting 6,335 votes or 22.4%.
Stretford and Urmston – 15 December 2022
A safe Labour seat in Greater Manchester, Stretford and Urmston has voted red since its creation in 1997, and former shadow education secretary Kate Green had been its MP since 2010.
But when Greater Manchester’s deputy mayor – and a former Stretford MP herself – Baroness Hughes, announced she was stepping back from the role, Ms Green was announced as her replacement, saying it was “the right time… to move on to new experiences and opportunities”.
She had been nominated by the region’s mayor, Andy Burnham, and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer gave full-throated support to the shift in direction for the former member of his shadow cabinet.
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Labour’s Andrew Western comfortably held on to the seat for his party
After being approved by the police, fire and crime panel, Ms Green officially stepped down and a by-election was triggered in her constituency.
But it passed without much drama, with Labour’s candidate, Andrew Western, not only keeping hold of the seat, but increasing the majority to almost 70% of the vote.
West Lancashire – 9 February 2023
Labour held on to the seat of West Lancashire when a by-election was triggered by the resignation of the constituency MP Rosie Cooper, who went on to become the chair of the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust.
Ms Cooper, who was elected in 2005, was the victim of a plot to kill her by an alleged member of the banned neo-Nazi group National Action and admitted the stress of her ordeal had “taken its toll”.
Labour’s candidate, Ashley Dalton, retained the seat for the party and secured a majority of 8,326 over Conservative candidate Mike Prendergast, with a 10.52% swing from the Tories to Labour.
In her victory speech, she said the people of her constituency have spoken on “behalf of the country” and sent a message to the Conservative government that they “do not have confidence in them to govern or the prime minister to lead”.
Image: Labour’s Ashley Dalton kept hold of West Lancashire after Rosie Cooper resigned
Uxbridge and South Ruislip – 20 July 2023
Mr Sunak was able to buck the trend of Conservative defeats in by-elections with a win in Uxbridge that came off the back of anti-ULEZ feeling in Mr Johnson’s former constituency.
The vote in Uxbridge and South Ruislip was triggered after the former prime minister stood down as an MPshortly before it was recommended he be suspended for 90 days for his role in the partygate scandal during the COVID pandemic.
Conservative Steve Tuckwell, a local councillor, successfully kept hold of the seat with 13,965 votes to 13,470 for Labour and 526 for the Liberal Democrats – giving him a majority of 495.
Image: Labour’s Danny Beales narrowly lost out to Tory councillor Steve Tuckwell in Boris Johnson’s former seat
Speaking after his victory was announced, Mr Tuckwell said Sadiq Khan “lost Labour this election” by rolling out his Ultra Low Emissions Zone to outer London boroughs.
ULEZ aims to tackle air pollution and congestion by charging cars that don’t meet emission standards £12.50 a day to drive on central London roads.
Following the defeat, splits emerged in Labour after party leader Sir Keir Starmer called on the London mayor to “reflect” on the policy, which was criticised for being introduced during a cost of living crisis.
But Mr Khan stood by it, saying: “It was a difficult decision to take. But just like nobody will accept drinking dirty water, why accept dirty air?”
Selby and Ainsty – 20 July 2023
Selby and Ainsty, the North Yorkshire seat that has been Conservative since it was created in 2010, turned red in the by-election that was held following the departure of the constituency MP Nigel Adams after he was snubbed for a peerage.
Mr Adams, a close ally of Boris Johnson, confirmed he was stepping down from the Commons with “immediate effect” last June, following the former prime minister and former culture secretary Nadine Dorries.
Image: Keir Mather was elected to parliament at the age of just 25
Mr Adams previously said he would quit at the next general election.
Labour overturned a Conservative majority of 20,137 – the largest majority reversed at a by-election – propelling 25-year-old Keir Mather into parliament.
Mr Mather won 16,456 votes, compared with the 12,295 cast for the Tory candidate Claire Holmes, giving Labour a majority of 4,161.
Speaking after his victory, Mr Mather said the Conservative government has “failed us” – and “now it’s time for a fresh start”.
“In a year’s time I believe we will be on the precipice of a Labour government,” he said. “Today we have made history.”
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This South West seat has switched hands over the years in a straight fight between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, but Tory MP David Warburton had comfortably held the constituency with over 50% of the vote since 2015.
However, a scandal uncovered by the Sunday Times led to him being suspended from his party and sitting as an independent for over a year, before eventually resigning from the Commons.
The newspaper reported allegations of sexual harassment – which Mr Warburton denied – and drug taking – which he later admitted to – and an investigation from parliament’s commissioner for standards, Daniel Greenberg, upheld three allegations of sexual misconduct.
But Mr Warburton claimed he had been denied a fair hearing, and resigned in protest at the 14-month investigation, which he said had “inflicted unimaginable and intolerable destruction on my family and on me”.
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Sir Ed Davey and Sarah Dyke celebrated the victory in the usual Lib Dem style
Two weeks later, an independent expert panel upheld his appeal, saying the probe into his conduct had been “materially flawed”. But by that point, he had left parliament and a by-election had been triggered.
The campaign was again a straight fight between the Tories and Lib Dems, with the latter facing a steep hill in overturning the 19,213 majority Mr Warburton had won in the 2019 election.
But local councillor and Lib Dem candidate Sarah Dyke managed to secure her own majority of 11,008 over her Tory rival, Faye Purbrick, and took the seat for her party.
Rutherglen and Hamilton West – 5 October 2023
The by-election in Rutherglen and Hamilton West was regarded as the first test for Labour against the SNP in Scotland, where it needs to pick up a significant number of seats if it is to win the next general election.
The contest was triggered following a successful recall petition to oust the SNP’s Margaret Ferrier, who was found to have breached COVID restrictions during lockdown in 2020.
Despite hanging on as an independent after the SNP removed the party whip, last June the Commons voted to suspend her for 30 days, triggering the recall petition that saw her lose her job.
Image: Disgraced MP Margaret Ferrier was ousted by a successful recall petition
Labour went on to triumph in the by-election, with its candidate Michael Shanks defeating the SNP’s Katy Loudon by 17,845 votes to 8,399 – a majority of 9,446 and a 20.36% swing from SNP to Scottish Labour.
Sir Keir celebrated the result as “seismic” for his party.
Speaking to Sky News after his win, Mr Shanks said: “There’s absolutely no doubt that this result shows that there’s no part of the United Kingdom that Labour can’t win.
“It’s been a long time in Scotland – Labour building back to a place where people can trust us again.”
Mid Bedfordshire – 19 October 2023
A true blue constituency since 1931, Mid Beds has always been considered a safe Conservative seat in the home counties.
But its controversial MP – and her controversial exit – led to quite the battle when a by-election came to town.
Former culture secretary Nadine Dorries won the seat in 2005 and had steadily increased her majority in the following years to around 60% of the vote.
Ms Dorries’ initial reasoning was around a “new life opening up” for her, including the birth of her granddaughter.
But in the weeks following, it emerged that she had expected to be included in Boris Johnson’s honours list to take a seat in the Lords, and when her name failed to appear, she placed the blame at the door of Rishi Sunak, claiming he had blocked her appointment.
Image: Since leaving, Nadine Dorries has been touring TV studios to promote a book
It took her a total of 81 days from announcing her resignation to actually officially quitting the Commons.
Both Labour and the Lib Dems had their eyes set on her seat, and a fierce battle broke out between the parties – with accusations of personal attacks on candidates.
But come the night, it was Labour’s Alistair Strathern who won the contest, getting over 1,000 votes more than the Tories’ Festus Akinbusoye and more than 4,000 votes ahead of the Lib Dem Emma Holland-Lindsay.
Tamworth – 19 October 2023
This Midlands seat had been Conservative since the party took power in 2010, and after the Tory MP Chris Pincher secured over 66% of the vote in 2019, there wasn’t much fear it could change its allegiances.
But the behaviour of the MP not only led to a by-election in that seat, but the downfall of a prime minister.
Mr Pincher had been the deputy chief whip in Boris Johnson’s government but quit in the summer of 2022 after allegations he had groped two men at a London members club.
It took days for the then prime minister to bow to pressure to suspend him from the party, and when it emerged Mr Johnson had known about other allegations before appointing Mr Pincher, his party turned on him, eventually leading to his exit from Number 10.
Meanwhile, Mr Pincher continued to sit as an independent MP.
Image: Chris Pincher’s conduct led to the by-election in Tamworth
An investigation by parliament’s watchdog concluded his conduct had been “completely inappropriate, profoundly damaging to the individuals concerned, and represented an abuse of power”, with them recommending a suspension of eight weeks – a long enough penalty to trigger a recall petition in the constituency.
Mr Pincher appealed against the sanction, but the independent panel stood by it, and rather than face the possible recall petition, the former frontbencher resigned, saying he did not want his constituents to be “put through further uncertainty”.
After a campaign where accusations of sleaze were very prominent, Labour’s Sarah Edwards secured the party’s second win of the night, with the second biggest by-election swing from the Conservatives since 1945.
European Union regulators are reportedly mulling a $1 billion fine against Elon Musk’s X, taking into account revenue from his other ventures, including Tesla and SpaceX, according to The New York Times.
EU regulators allege that X has violated the Digital Services Act and will use a section of the act to calculate a fine based on revenue that includes other companies Musk controls, according to an April 3 report by the newspaper, which cited four people with knowledge of the plan.
Under the Digital Services Act, which came into law in October 2022 to police social media companies and “prevent illegal and harmful activities online,” companies can be fined up to 6% of global revenue for violations.
A spokesman for the European Commission, the bloc’s executive branch, declined to comment on this case to The New York Times but did say it would “continue to enforce our laws fairly and without discrimination toward all companies operating in the EU.”
In a statement, X’s Global Government Affairs team said that if the reports about the EU’s plans are accurate, it “represents an unprecedented act of political censorship and an attack on free speech.”
“X has gone above and beyond to comply with the EU’s Digital Services Act, and we will use every option at our disposal to defend our business, keep our users safe, and protect freedom of speech in Europe,” X’s global government affairs team said.
Along with the fine, the EU regulators could reportedly demand product changes at X, with the full scope of any penalties to be announced in the coming months.
Still, a settlement could be reached if the social media platform agrees to changes that satisfy regulators, according to the Times.
One of the officials who spoke to the Times also said that X is facing a second investigation alleging the platform’s approach to policing user-generated content has made it a hub of illegal hate speech and disinformation, which could result in more penalties.
X EU investigation ongoing since 2023
The EU investigation began in 2023. A preliminary ruling in July 2024 found X had violated the Digital Services Act by refusing to provide data to outside researchers, provide adequate transparency about advertisers, or verify the authenticity of users who have a verified account.
X responded to the ruling with hundreds of points of dispute, and Musk said at the time he was offered a deal, alleging that EU regulators told him if he secretly suppressed certain content, X would escape fines.
Thierry Breton, the former EU commissioner for internal market, said in a July 12 X post in 2024 that there was no secret deal and that X’s team had asked for the “Commission to explain the process for settlement and to clarify our concerns,” and its response was in line with “established regulatory procedures.”
Musk replied he was looking “forward to a very public battle in court so that the people of Europe can know the truth.”
US crypto exchange Coinbase has filed with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to launch futures contracts for Ripple’s XRP token.
“We’re excited to announce that Coinbase Derivatives has filed with the CFTC to self-certify XRP futures — bringing a regulated, capital-efficient way to gain exposure to one of the most liquid digital assets,” stated Coinbase Institutional on April 3.
The firm added that it anticipates the contract going live on April 21.
According to the certification filing, the XRP (XRP) futures contract will be a monthly cash-settled and margined contract trading under the symbol XRL.
The contract tracks XRP’s price and is settled in US dollars. Each contract represents 10,000 XRP, currently worth about $20,000 at $2 per token.
Contracts can be traded for the current month and two months ahead, and trading will be paused as a safety measure if spot XRP prices move more than 10% in an hour.
“The exchange has spoken with FCMs (Futures Commission Merchants) and market participants who support the decision to launch a XRP contract,” the firm stated.
Coinbase is not the first to launch XRP futures in the United States. In March, Chicago-based crypto exchange Bitnomial announced the launch of the “first-ever CFTC-regulated XRP futures in the US.”
XRP futures trading is available on many of the world’s leading centralized crypto exchanges, such as Binance, OKX, Bybit and BitMEX.
Funding rates remain negative
In late March, Cointelegraph reported that XRP derivatives’ funding rates had flipped negative as investor sentiment turned bearish.
Funding rates are periodic payments between traders in perpetual futures markets that help keep the futures price aligned with the spot price. Positive funding rates mean that long traders (buyers) pay short traders, while negative funding rates mean short traders (sellers) pay long traders.
When funding rates go negative, it means short traders are willing to pay a premium to maintain their positions, indicating strong conviction from bearish derivatives traders.
XRP funding rates remained negative on major derivatives exchanges as of April 4, according to CoinGlass.
Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao will begin advising the Kyrgyz Republic on blockchain and crypto-related regulation and tech after signing a memorandum of understanding with the country’s foreign investment agency.
“I officially and unofficially advise a few governments on their crypto regulatory frameworks and blockchain solutions for gov efficiency, expanding blockchain to more than trading,” the crypto entrepreneur said in an April 3 X post, adding that he finds this work “extremely meaningful.”
His comments came in response to an earlier X post from Kyrgyzstan President Sadyr Zhaparov announcing that Kyrgyzstan’s National Investment Agency (NIA) had signed a memorandum with CZ to provide technical expertise and consulting services for the Central Asian country.
The NIA is responsible for promoting foreign investments and assisting international companies in identifying business opportunities within the country.
“This cooperation marks an important step towards strengthening technological infrastructure, implementing innovative solutions, and preparing highly qualified specialists in blockchain technologies, virtual asset management, and cybersecurity,” Zhaparov said.
The Kyrgyzstan president added: “such initiatives are crucial for the sustainable growth of the economy and the security of virtual assets, ultimately generating new opportunities for businesses and society as a whole.”
Kyrgyzstan, which officially changed its name from the Republic of Kyrgyzstan to the Kyrgyz Republic in 1993, is a mountainous, land-locked country.
Over 30% of Kyrgyzstan’s total energy supply comes from hydroelectric power plants, but only 10% of the country’s potential hydropower has been developed, according to a report by the International Energy Agency.
CZ has met with several other state officials in Asia
Malaysia also recently tapped CZ for guidance on crypto-related matters, with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim meeting him personally in January.
CZ has also met with officials in the UAE and Bitcoin-stacking country Bhutan — however, it isn’t clear what those meetings entailed.
Since being released, CZ has made investments in blockchain tech, artificial intelligence and biotechnology companies.
CZ also recently donated 1,000 BNB (BNB) — worth almost $600,000 — to support earthquake relief efforts in Thailand and Myanmar after the natural disaster in late April.