12AUG

VAC pace lags; FCA reviews Stack BTC

1 min read

14:07UTC

Voter Authority Certificate applications ran at 259-524 per day in the week before the Tuesday 28 April deadline, well below the pace needed to clear the 2024 baseline. The FCA confirmed it will review the Lib Dem complaint about Farage's Stack BTC stake but has not opened a formal investigation.

← Back to Reform bleeds councillors, wins by-elections Jump to analysis ↓

PoliticsDeveloping

Key takeaway

VAC pace lags the 2024 baseline; the FCA Stack BTC review will not finish before polling.

Voter Authority Certificate applications ran at 259-524 per day in the week before the 28 April deadline⁠¹. The highest day was Monday 20 April with 524; the lowest was Saturday 25 April with 259. The 2024 local-election baseline was 22,749 total applications and the 2023 total was 25,000. The Government Digital Service dashboard reports daily applications but no cumulative figure, and the Electoral Commission has published no post-deadline registration total since 20 April. Whether the 2026 total clears the 2024 baseline cannot be confirmed before the deadline closes.

The Financial Conduct Authority told BBC News it will review the Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper's complaint about Nigel Farage's promotion of crypto company Stack BTC, in which he holds a 6.31% personal equity stake worth £215,000⁠². No formal investigation has been opened. The complaint dates from 14 April. Stack BTC is not publicly traded, complicating Market Abuse Regulation application. Both deadlines are unlikely to move ahead of 7 May, leaving the photo-ID filter and the financial-conduct question as overhangs into polling day.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

To vote in the UK, you need to show photo ID. If you do not have a passport or driving licence, you can apply for a free Voter Authority Certificate (VAC) from your local council. The deadline to apply for the 7 May elections is 28 April. In the week before that deadline, between 259 and 524 VAC applications were being processed every day across England. That is a slower rate than was seen before the 2024 local elections, when a total of 22,749 VACs were issued. Electoral Commission research from February found that 55% of voters in areas with 7 May elections did not know the free ID existed. Separately, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) , the UK's main financial regulator , has confirmed it received a letter from Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper asking it to investigate Nigel Farage's role in cryptocurrency firm Stack BTC. Farage personally holds a £215,000 stake in the company (about 6% of it) while appearing in its promotional material. The FCA said it would review the letter, but has not opened a formal investigation. Any investigation would conclude well after the 7 May elections.

Sources:UK Government (GDS)·UK Government (GDS)·CoinTelegraph

Mentions:Electoral Commission →Voter Authority Certificate →Financial Conduct Authority →Stack BTC →Nigel Farage →England →Government Digital Service →Daisy Cooper →BBC News →

First Reported In

Update #5 · 11 Days to Go: Six-of-six, RPA dies, Welsh lead flips

UK Government (GDS)· 26 Apr 2026

Read original →

Causes and effects

Caused by

Lib Dems ask FCA to probe Farage crypto stake

The Lib Dem FCA complaint about Farage's Stack BTC stake (2416) progressed to FCA acknowledgment but no formal investigation by 25 April.

Occurred 14 Apr 2026

Read story →

This Event

VAC pace lags; FCA reviews Stack BTC

Two regulatory deadlines run in parallel: a non-extendable photo-ID gate that may filter out tens of thousands of voters by silence, and a financial-conduct complaint that may not move before polling day.

Led to

RPA Bill stranded, FCA review without probe

FCA's acknowledgement without investigation of the Stack BTC complaint is one of the three pillars of the polling-day regulatory void

Occurred 6 May 2026

Read story →

Standards opens Farage £5m gift inquiry

The FCA's Stack BTC complaint acknowledgement (2807) becomes one of three simultaneous inquiries into Harborne's relationship with Farage.

Occurred 13 May 2026

Read story →

Different Perspectives

Rhun ap Iorwerth / Welsh Government (Plaid Cymru)

Ap Iorwerth presented six priorities to the Senedd on 22 September without numeric targets or a named partner party, promising to work across the chamber where there is common ground. He says his government will be judged on results.

Michael Marra / Scottish Labour

Marra won the leadership on 19 September, and three days later his 17 MSPs backed Swinney's right-to-decide motion once their child-poverty amendment was written in. He says Scottish Labour's task is to tell voters what it stands for.

Andy Burnham / Labour Party

Burnham told conference in Liverpool on 29 September that Labour's next manifesto will commit to changing the electoral system, and invited every party into a National Commission on Electoral Reform. He has not named a replacement system, and no chair or remit has been published.

Conservative Party (frontbench peers and Kemi Badenoch)

Conservative frontbench peers argued against retrospective rules at the Lords Second Reading on 14 September, a position that protects gifts made before any cap. Kemi Badenoch rejected Burnham's electoral reform commission on 2 October, accusing him of using it to entrench the left.

Reform UK

Reform denied wrongdoing after the Channel 4 News programme, called the sting a hoax by climate activists and said it would cooperate with the Metropolitan Police. In the same month it announced £36m gifts from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne.

Steff Aquarone / Liberal Democrats (North Norfolk)

Aquarone told Rayner in the Commons on 7 September that North Norfolk District Council had spent money preparing for a reorganisation the Government has now withdrawn. He puts the cost of the cancelled merger on districts in the four areas.