Sunak faces red wall by-election as scandal-hit MP Benton resigns

AN MP who lost the Conservative whip after being embroiled in a lobbying scandal is quitting Parliament.

Scott Benton’s resignation, coming before a recall petition was due to close on April 22, means Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces another challenging by-election.

Mr Benton was last month suspended from the House of Commons for 35 days after he was found to have breached Commons rules.

It came after he was filmed by The Times offering to lobby ministers and table parliamentary questions on behalf of gambling investors.

Mr Benton was stripped of the Tory whip after the allegations surfaced and has been sitting as an independent.

A recall petition opened against him earlier this month, which, if signed by 10% of voters in Blackpool South, would have triggered a by-election.

But his immediate exit from the Commons means the contest could be brought forward to May 2, the date of the local elections.

Mr Benton won the seat for the Tories in 2019 with a slim majority of 3,690 and Labour would hope to snatch it back in a by-election.

It is one of the “red wall” seats — the traditional Labour areas that switched to Boris Johnson’s Tories in 2019.

Mr Benton stood for the NI Conservatives in Strangford in the 2017 Assembly election, finishing last, with 0.5% of the vote.

He said: “It’s been the honour of a lifetime to represent our wonderful community in Parliament over the last four years.

“It’s with a heavy heart that I have written to the Chancellor this morning to tender my resignation as your MP.

“I would like to thank the hundreds of residents who have sent supportive messages, cards and letters over these last few months and who have urged me to continue and fight the next election.

“The support that so many local people have given to me has made it all worthwhile.”