After a landslide election on July 4 favoring the UK Labour Party over the Conservatives, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has started making appointments to the new government, including Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq.

In a July 9 announcement, PM Starmer appointed Siddiq as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, putting her in charge of many policies affecting the regulation of digital assets and central bank digital currencies in the UK. Siddiq, who held the role of Shadow City Minister and Shadow Economic Secretary while Conservatives were the primary ruling party, made statements suggesting that she would implement stricter rules on cryptocurrency.

In a May 2023 New Statesman op-ed, Siddiq urged UK lawmakers to introduce a “comprehensive, all-of-government framework to address the emerging risks and opportunities posed by crypto assets,” following the example in the United States. She compared the Conservative government’s approach to crypto to the “Wild West,” calling for regulation and protection against scammers.

“A Labour government would be serious about attracting fintech companies to the UK and safely harnessing the progressive potential of crypto technology,” said Siddiq. “But it’s time to reject the arguments of the libertarian right and properly regulate the sector.”

Will UK Economic Secretary follow through with a ‘crypto crackdown’? image 0 Source: Tulip Siddiq

Crypto under Labour?

In 2022, the self-regulatory trade association CryptoUK rated Siddiq as one of the top ten UK lawmakers who spoke about crypto and blockchain in the House of Commons. Nigel Green, CEO of financial consultancy firm deVere Group, claimed that the economic secretary “would transform the UK into a global centre for tokenized assets” after a Labour victory.

It’s unclear where digital assets may fall in the Labour government’s priorities. Under PM Starmer, the UK government announced it would first be scrapping the Conservatives’ policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda. Cointelegraph reached out to Siddiq but did not receive a response at the time of publication.

“Labour will prioritize housing and the NHS,” said Hedge Fund Tyr Capital chief investment officer Edouard Hindi. “Development of the Web3 regulatory infrastructure will most probably be put on hold until the new government decides what the UK’s new crypto policy should be.”

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Labour won 411 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons following the election, while the Conservatives won 121 seats. However, certain crypto-friendly UK lawmakers, including Lisa Cameron — the MP for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow — stood down after the election announcement in May.

In the United States, the general election set for November 2024 could similarly shake up digital assets and blockchain policy depending on which political party gains control of the House of Representatives, the Senate, and the Presidency. On July 9, the tech trade group Chamber of Progress wrote to President Joe Biden asking him to “provide the regulatory clarity” on crypto that voters want.

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