Scott Benton is the MP for Blackpool South, having first been elected to Parliament in 2019, with a majority of 3,690 over the Labour Party candidate,
The Blackpool South constituency is found within the county of Lancashire and covers the southern Part of Blackpool. Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach, Blackpool Tower, and the centre of Blackpool is found in this seat. Blackpool airport is also found here. There are notable pockets of deprivation in this seat. It was held by the Conservatives solidly between 1945 and 1997, before being gained by Labour. The Conservatives won it back in 2019.
In April 2023, Benton was suspended from the parliamentary Conservative party after the The Times newspaper published a video of him offering to lobby for a fake firm.
In footage, released by The Times, Benton agreed to a fee of up to £4,000 for two days’ work, boasting of his “direct” access to ministers. The Blackpool South MP did not act on the proposal.
In December 2023, parliament’s standards committee said the former Conservative MP was “clearly motivated” by financial gain.
The committee’s report will now need to be approved by MPs, in the first part of a process which could trigger a by-election in his marginal “red wall” seat.
The committee report said: “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, Mr Benton committed a very serious breach of Paragraph 11 of the Rules.
“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.”
It added: “A serious sanction is appropriate. We recommend that the House suspend Mr Benton from its service for a total of 35 days, with concomitant loss of salary”.
Any suspension of at least 10 days triggers a recall petition in a member’s constituency.
If more than a tenth of the voters in an MP’s constituency then sign the petition, a by-election is called.
Benton won his seat in 2019 with a majority of 3,690, with the red wall constituency previously held by Labour since 1997.
Polls show Labour would be expected to regain the seat if a contest were held.
Ex-Conservative MP Scott Benton faces 35 day suspension over lobbying sting
Born in 1987, Scott Benton studied theology as an undergraduate at the University of Nottingham. He then remained at Nottingham University to study for a postgraduate degree and he gained a Masters’ in Theology.
He worked as a Primary School teacher and served as a Councillor on Calderdale Council, before being elected to Parliament.
Benton was a strong supporter of Brexit. On the right of the Conservative Party, he has previously suggested that schools should fly the Union Jack and sing the National Anthem, similar to the practice in many American schools.
At Westminster he is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Betting and Gambling, and Eating Well. He is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Saudi Arabia, St George’s Day and Dying Well (anti euthanasia),
He enjoys football and is a member of All-Party Parliamentary Football Club. He supports Tottenham.
Email – scott.benton.mp@parliament.uk
Website – www.scottbenton.org.uk
Twitter – @SL_Benton
