Tory MP Scott Benton faces 35 day suspension establishing one other by-election
A Tory MP who was filmed providing to foyer ministers and leak confidential info to playing business chiefs faces a 35 day suspension.
If accepted by MPs, it might set off a by-election in his marginal Blackpool South seat. A probe was launched by Parliament’s Standards Committee after he made the remarks to undercover reporters. He additionally urged that MPs had been in a position to get round transparency guidelines on company hospitality by placing a falsely low worth on tickets. This would stop them having to declare them.
Blackpool South MP Mr Benton was secretly filmed by reporters at The Times claiming to be traders throughout a 70-minute assembly. The undercover journalists urged a payment of £2,000-£4,000 for 2 days’ work to Mr Benton, who boasted of his “direct” entry to ministers.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has been trying into allegations that his actions brought about “significant damage to the reputation of the House” of Commons. It launched the probe after the Tory referred himself for investigation.
The Code of Conduct for MPs states that “members shall never undertake any action which would cause significant damage to the reputation and integrity of the House of Commons as a whole or of its members generally”.
It created a potential by-election headache for Rishi Sunak in one in every of England’s most marginal seats. Blackpool South was held by Labour from 1997 to 2019 when Mr Benton snatched the seat for the Conservatives. He received by simply 3,690 votes.
Mr Benton was recorded stating: “The beauty of politicians, if you like, are we vote in the House of Commons two or three times a day, and we’ll be voting later. “You will literally stand at the beginning at the entrance to the voting lobby. And if you wait there for five minutes, the minister has to pass you. And then you’ve got ten minutes while you walk around to the next vote to have his ear.”
The Tory MP also suggested he could “assure” to pass on a copy of a gambling white paper “inside 48 hours of publication”.
In a statement issued in April following the publication of The Times’ investigation, Mr Benton said: “Last month I used to be approached by a purported firm providing me an professional advisory position. I met with two people claiming to characterize the corporate to search out out what this position entailed. After this assembly, I used to be requested to ahead my CV and another private particulars. I didn’t accomplish that as I used to be involved that what was being requested of me was not inside Parliamentary guidelines.
“I contacted the Commons Registrar and the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner who clarified these rules for me and had no further contact with the company. I did this before being made aware that the company did not exist and the individuals claiming to represent it were journalists.”
