Suspended Tory MP facing Commons ban over ‘extremely serious breach’ of rules

Politics

Rishi Sunak is facing another by-election after the Commons standards committee recommended MP Scott Benton be suspended from the chamber for 35 days.

Mr Benton was suspended from the parliamentary Tory party in April after being caught by The Times suggesting he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money.

In its ruling handed down this morning, the committee 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 the rules.

A suspension of more than 10 days – if passed by a vote in the Commons – means that a recall petition is triggered.

This means Mr Benton’s constituents can decide whether they want to hold a by-election.

He was elected as the Tory MP for Blackpool South in 2019, and has a majority of just 3,690.

Labour and the Liberal Democrats have both overturned five-figure majorities in recent by-elections.

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