Blackpool South MP Scott Benton facing 35 day suspension

If the House of Commons approves the recommendation of this five-week suspension, it will initiate a recall petition in his constituency, which will give residents of Blackpool South the power to trigger a by-election.

The recall process is triggered by suspension from the House of at least 10 sitting days or 14 calendar days, following a report by “any committee of the House of Commons concerned with the standards of conduct of individual members of that House”.

In April, The Times newspaper filmed Benton appearing to offer to leak confidential information and lobby ministers in return for payments from a group of fake gambling industry investors.

After the report, he referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who opened an investigation in the same month.

The Conservative party suspended the whip, pending the outcome of the investigation.

The Commons Standards Committee said Mr Benton’s actions were an “extremely serious breach” of the rules.

The message he gave to the undercover reporters was “that he was corrupt and ‘for sale’, and that so were many other Members of the House”, the Standards Committee’s report said.

“He communicated a toxic message about standards in Parliament. We condemn Mr Benton for his comments which unjustifiably tarnish the reputation of all MPs.”

They recommended that he should be suspended for 35 days – something which could trigger a by-election.

Benton, 36, a former primary school teacher, became MP for Blackpool South in 2019 as part of Boris Johnson’s landslide majority election victory with a 9.4 per cent vote swing.

He was chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Betting and Gaming when he was approached by undercover reporters posing as representatives from fictitious betting firm Tahr Partners in March.

The MP insisted “at no point during the meeting did he agree to undertake activity that would be in breach of the rules” and referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg when the Times published its story in April.

But the Standards Committee said Benton suggested MPs could lobby ministers, set up meetings with government advisers, table parliamentary questions and provide access to confidential documents.

The committee agreed with the commissioner’s finding that Benton “made statements that he would be willing to breach and/or circumvent the House’s rules for the company in return for payment”.

During his conversations with the undercover journalists, Benton also suggested there was widespread abuse of rules on declaring hospitality worth more than £300.

He said “a lot of companies try to be quite cute” about the level of the hospitality so MPs did not have to declare it.

“It normally works for the company. And it normally works for MPs as well.”

He added: “Without saying too much, you’d be amazed at the number of times I’ve been to races and the ticket comes to £295.”

The committee concluded Benton “made statements that other Members had previously breached and/or circumvented the House’s rules and would be willing to do so in the future in return for payment”.

They said it was important that “Parliament deals decisively with cases like the present one where a Member shows themselves to be unworthy of the position they hold in public life”.

The committee said that “by repeatedly indicating his willingness to disregard the House’s rules, and by giving the impression that many Members of the House had in the past and will in the future engage in such misconduct” he had committed a “very serious breach” of the rules which require MPs not to do anything that causes significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the Commons.

“His comments gave a false impression of the morality of MPs in a way which, if the public were to accept them as accurate, would be corrosive to respect for Parliament and undermine the foundations of our democracy.”