Former Tory MP Scott Benton has been suspended from the Commons over his role in a lobbying sting, creating another by-election headache for Rishi Sunak.
The Blackpool South MP’s suspension is for 35 days meaning that he will face a recall petition, which could leave his seat up for grabs in the May election.
Mr Benton was elected as a Conservative but now sits as an independent after he was found to have breached Commons rules.
The MP had been caught offering to lobby ministers and table parliamentary questions on behalf of gambling investors.
He appealed against both the finding and the suspension, but in a report published last week an independent panel upheld the Standards Committee’s original decision, saying there had been ‘no procedural flaw’ in the process.
Scott Benton, who was elected as a Conservative but now sits as an independent, was found to have breached Commons rules after he was caught by the Times offering to lobby ministers and table parliamentary questions on behalf of gambling investors
MPs have approved a motion to suspend Mr Benton from the Commons for 35 days
Mr Benton won a majority of 3,690 in 2019 in a seat that had voted Labour since 1997.
It means if a vote is confirmed, the Prime Minister will almost certainly face a loss of another defeat at the hands of Keir Starmer.
Earlier this month Labour took Kingswood and Wellingborough in by-elections last week, two constituencies with much larger Tory majorities.
An investigation concluded in December that Mr Benson, who chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Betting and Gambling, acted as if he was ‘for sale’ in a undercover sting by the Times.
A probe by the Commons Standards Committee recommended the 36-year-old serve a ban of seven working weeks, enough to trigger a recall petition in his margin seat.
In their report the Standards Commission said Mr Benton was guilty of ‘an extremely serious’ breach of lobbying rules.
‘The message he gave to his interlocutors at the March 7 meeting was that he was corrupt and ”for sale”, and that so were many other Members of the House,’ they wrote.
‘He communicated a toxic message about standards in Parliament. We condemn Mr Benton for his comments which unjustifiably tarnish the reputation of all MPs.’
Mr Brenton had met with undercover reporters who had posed as executives from Tahr Partners – a fictitious Indian gambling conglomerate who said that it wanted to become a bigger player in Britain.
They offered to pay the MP £48,000 a year to work two days a month and sit on the board of on of its firms.
Recorded meetings show the MP offering ‘direct access to a government minister’ and to lobby ministers who vote in the Commons. He also said he can ‘call in favours’ with other MPs who might be able to help out.
The MP previously insisted that ‘at no point during the meeting did he agree to undertake activity that would be in breach of the rules’.
He referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg when the Times published its story in April.
The Standards Committee, however, said Mr Benton suggested MPs could lobby ministers, set up meetings with government advisers, table parliamentary questions and provide access to confidential documents.
In a statement released earlier this month, Mr Benton claimed there had been ‘an inescapable appearance of bias’ throughout the investigation against him.
‘It goes without saying that the Standards process is designed to be open, fair, honest and transparent so the public and MPs can have trust in it,’ he said.
‘These events clearly mean that this trust has been breached by Members of the Committee and/or its administrative staff and create an inevitable perception of partiality.
‘How can MPs and the public they serve have faith in standards process which doesn’t adhere to its own ethics, standards and principles?