Wellingborough by-election: Labour overturns big Tory majority with second win of night
Labour has gained Wellingborough from the Conservatives, another big by-election victory for Sir Keir Starmer’s party.
Labour’s Gen Kitchen won 13,844 votes, while Tory candidate Helen Harrison polled 7,408, giving her a majority of 6,436.
Ms Kitchen revealed she cut her honeymoon short to campaign, telling Sky News the call to apply for selection came while she was on a Suffolk beach with her husband, dogs, and some fish and chips.
“We packed up the car and we went home. And we went ready to start campaigning for selection,” she said.
Labour wins by-election double header – live updates
Labour managed to achieve a swing of 28.5% – the largest swing of this parliament. The all-time record is held by the Dudley by-election in 1994 – which saw a 29.2% change.
Ms Harrison is the partner of ousted MP Peter Bone, who had represented the Northamptonshire constituency since 2005 and was re-elected with a majority of 18,540 in 2019.
He was removed from his seat last December after an inquiry found he had subjected a staff member to bullying and sexual misconduct, leading to him being suspended from the Commons for six weeks and facing a recall petition which he subsequently lost.
Mr Bone has denied the allegations.
Gen Kitchen cut short her honeymoon to campaign for the Wellingborough by-election. Pic: PA
Labour – which won the Kingswood by-election earlier in the night – had enough confidence for a party source to tell Sky News they had secured victory shortly after midnight.
Speaking after the Wellingborough result was announced, Sir Keir said: “These are fantastic results in Kingswood and Wellingborough that show people want change and are ready to put their faith in a changed Labour Party to deliver it.”
Ms Kitchen told Sky News there was “clearly an appetite for change and clearly an appetite for a fresh start”.
In her acceptance speech, Ms Kitchen said: “The people of Wellingborough have spoken for Britain. This is a stunning victory for the Labour Party and must send a message from Northamptonshire to Downing Street.”
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Labour wins Wellingborough by-election
Earlier in the night, a Conservative Party source rubbished the idea voters had swapped from the Tories to Labour – instead saying their support stayed at home following the “awful circumstances” of the Wellingborough vote.
Turnout was 38.1% of the eligible electorate – down 26 points from the 2019 general election, with 30,145 votes cast from an electorate of 79,372.
The by-election was seen as a two-horse race between the Tories and Labour, which previously held the seat in 1997 and 2001.
Labour needed a swing of 17.9 percentage points to overturn the Conservatives’ large majority – in other words, the equivalent of a net change of 18 in every 100 people who voted Tory in 2019 switching sides.
The Kingswood and Wellingborough results mean this Conservative government is now the worst performing Tory administration in by-elections since the Second World War.
Like the election in Kingswood, Reform UK – formerly the Brexit Party – gained thousands of votes and had more support than the Liberal Democrats.
A group of US Senate Democrats known for supporting the crypto industry have said they would oppose a Republican-led stablecoin bill if it moves forward in its current form.
The move threatens to stall legislation that could establish the first US regulatory framework for stablecoins, according to a May 3 report from Politico.
Per the report, nine Senate Democrats said in a joint statement that the bill “still has numerous issues that must be addressed.” They warned they would not support a procedural vote to advance the legislation unless changes are made.
Among the signatories were Senators Ruben Gallego, Mark Warner, Lisa Blunt Rochester and Andy Kim — all of whom had previously backed the bill when it passed through the Senate Banking Committee in March.
The bill, introduced by Senator Bill Hagerty, is formally known as the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act.
Related: Fed’s Powell reasserts support for stablecoin legislation
Senate prepares to vote on stablecoin bill
The Senate is expected to begin floor consideration of the bill in the coming days, with the first vote potentially taking place next week.
The bill has been championed by the crypto industry as a landmark step toward regulatory clarity. However, the Democrats’ about-face reflects growing unease within the party.
Although revisions were made to the bill after its committee approval to address Democratic concerns, the lawmakers said the changes fell short. They called for stronger safeguards related to Anti-Money Laundering, national security, foreign issuers, and accountability measures for noncompliant actors.
The statement was also signed by Senators Raphael Warnock, Catherine Cortez Masto, Ben Ray Luján, John Hickenlooper and Adam Schiff.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Senator Angela Alsobrooks were absent from the list, who co-sponsored the bill alongside Hagerty.
Despite their objections, the Democratic senators emphasized their commitment to shaping responsible crypto regulation. They reportedly said they “are eager to continue working with our colleagues to address these issues.”
Related: US banks are ‘free to begin supporting Bitcoin’
Crypto needs a stablecoin bill
On April 27, Caitlin Long, founder and CEO of Custodia Bank, criticized the US Federal Reserve for quietly maintaining a key anti-crypto policy that favors big-bank-issued stablecoins, despite relaxing crypto partnership rules for banks.
Long explained that while the Fed recently rescinded four prior crypto guidelines, a Jan. 27, 2023, statement was left intact in coordination with the Biden administration.
The guidance, according to Long, blocks banks from engaging directly with crypto assets and prohibits them from issuing stablecoins on permissionless blockchains.
However, Long noted that once a federal stablecoin bill becomes law, it could override the Fed’s stance. “Congress should hurry up,” she urged.
Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again
Bitcoiners and United States government officials have criticized Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs’s decision to veto a bill that would have allowed the state to hold Bitcoin as part of its official reserves.
“This will age poorly,” Casa co-founder and cypherpunk Jameson Lopp said in a May 3 X post. Bitcoin (BTC) entrepreneur Anthony Pompliano said, “Imagine the ignorance of a politician to believe they can make investment decisions.”
Call for government officials who understand Bitcoin is “the future”
“If she can’t outperform Bitcoin, she must buy it,” Pompliano said. Crypto lawyer Andrew Gordon said, “We need more elected officials who understand that Bitcoin and crypto are the future.”
Wendy Rogers, who co-sponsored the bill with State Representative Jeff Weninger, also voiced her disappointment.
“Politicians don’t understand that Bitcoin doesn’t need Arizona. Arizona needs Bitcoin,” Rogers said.
On May 2, Hobbs vetoed the Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, which would have permitted Arizona to invest seized funds into Bitcoin and create a reserve managed by state officials. “Today, I vetoed Senate Bill 1025. The Arizona State Retirement System is one of the strongest in the nation because it makes sound and informed investments,” Hobbs said.
Rogers said she would refile the bill during her next session. Rogers also pointed out that Arizona’s state retirement system already holds stocks of Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR).
“Which is basically a leveraged Bitcoin ETF. Arizona’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill will be back. HODL,” Rogers said. The stock price of Strategy rose 32% in April, the most significant monthly gain since November 2024.
Related: US gov’t actions give clue about upcoming crypto regulation
However, well-known crypto skeptic Peter Schiff sided with Hobbs. “The government should not be making decisions to use public funds to speculate in cryptocurrencies,” Schiff said.
Arizona would have become the first US state to establish a Bitcoin Strategic Reserve if it had passed.
Arizona joins several other US states where similar efforts have failed. Similar proposals in Oklahoma, Montana, South Dakota and Wyoming have stalled or been withdrawn recently.
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