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Scott Benton (politician)

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Scott Benton
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Blackpool South
In office
12 December 2019 – 25 March 2024
Preceded byGordon Marsden
Succeeded byTBD
Personal details
Born
Scott Lloyd Benton

(1987-07-01) 1 July 1987 (age 37)
Newport, Wales
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Harry Symonds
​
(m. 2021)​
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham

Scott Lloyd Benton (born 1 July 1987) is a former British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool South from the 2019 general election until his resignation in March 2024.[1] A member of the Conservative Party, he was previously also a councillor on Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and a primary school teacher.

In April 2023 Benton had the whip removed after he had offered to reporters, posing as investors, that he would lobby ministers in return for payments. A parliamentary investigation concluded that he had breached lobbying rules and recommended a 35-day suspension from the House of Commons, triggering a recall petition. Benton's subsequent resignation as an MP has now prompted a by-election on 2 May 2024.[2]

Early life and education

Benton was born on 1 July 1987 in Newport, Wales, to Alan and Krystina Benton.[3][4] He grew up in Rastrick, West Yorkshire, and attended Rastrick High School.[5] Benton then studied Theology as an undergraduate at the University of Nottingham and was awarded a first class Bachelor of Arts degree. He later completed a Master of Arts degree in the subject,[4] specialising in the Old Testament.[6] After graduating, Benton worked as a primary school teacher.[7]

Political career

In 2011 Benton was elected to Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council for the Brighouse ward.[8] He was deputy leader of the Council and then leader of the Conservative group.[9] From 2013 to 2019 Benton worked as a Parliamentary assistant for Craig Whittaker, the Conservative MP for Calder Valley.[9][4]

In 2015 Benton unsuccessfully proposed a motion that all schools in his council district should sing the national anthem daily and be encouraged to fly the Union Jack.[10][11]

At the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election, Benton stood as the Northern Ireland Conservatives candidate for the Strangford constituency. He finished last, winning 0.5% of the vote.[12] At the 2017 general election, Benton stood for election in Huddersfield, where he won 33.0% of the vote and finished second behind the incumbent veteran Labour MP Barry Sheerman.[13]

Benton stood for and was elected as the MP for Blackpool South at the 2019 general election, where he won 49.6% of the vote and a majority of 3,690 (11.3%).[14] His campaign focused on delivering Brexit and reopening Blackpool Airport for commercial flights.[15]

During the election campaign, David Brown, who stood for the Brexit Party against Benton, expressed concerns over his links to the anti-abortion organisation Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), which has campaigned against same-sex marriage and has been accused of homophobia.[16] In response, Benton stated that he was no longer linked to SPUC. He said that he supported their anti-abortion stance but was not homophobic and was a supporter of same-sex marriage.[17]

In November 2020, following complaints to Calderdale Council and the Parliamentary Standards Commission, Benton expressed his intention to give up his council seat as soon as Covid regulations allowed elections to be held, having previously been cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic.[18][19] Benton's mother Tina Benton was elected in May 2021 to replace him as councillor for the Brighouse ward.[20]

In December 2021 Benton expressed support for the death penalty in certain scenarios.[21]

On 13 June 2022 Benton was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ministerial team.[22]

Benton is anti-abortion.[16] In June 2022, following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision of the US Supreme Court – which reversed the 1973 Roe v. Wade legislation which had previously granted the right to abortion in the United States — Benton retweeted a tweet by the US Republican Party celebrating the decision. Benton subsequently deleted the retweet.[23][24]

Breaches of parliamentary rules

In January 2021 Benton was found to have broken Parliamentary rules for failing to declare payments he had received for his previous work as a parliamentary researcher for Calder Valley MP Craig Whittaker and as a councillor for Brighouse ward on Calderdale Council within 28 days.[19] When asked about the allegations in November 2020, he cited "an admin error" for failing to declare his income as a councillor.[18] In response to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards' findings, Benton apologised for "inadvertently breaching the rules".[19]

In July 2021 Benton was one of nine MPs from different political parties who had accepted tickets to high-profile sporting events as hospitality from betting and gambling companies. He had received tickets to Royal Ascot, two Euro 2020 football games and Wimbledon.[25]

In April 2023 The Times newspaper filmed Benton appearing to offer to leak confidential information and lobby ministers in return for payments, from a group of undercover journalists posing as gambling industry investors.[26] In response, he referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who opened an investigation in the same month. Benton also had his whip suspended pending the results of the investigation. At the time he was also the chairman of the All-party parliamentary group on betting and gaming.[27][28]

The Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists, a body set up in 2014 to monitor political lobbying, ruled that Benton had not conducted "unregistered consultant lobbying activity" on behalf of the gambling industry based on "assurances" that they had received.[29]

In December 2023, a report by the Commons Standards Committee stated that "The meeting the undercover reporters was not in any sense of Mr Benton’s seeking, and there is no evidence that he has ever sought opportunities to make improper financial gains from his position as a Member."

The report concluded, however, that his interactions with The Times were a "very serious breach" of lobbying rules and that he had given the message that "he was corrupt and 'for sale' and that so were many other Members of the House". The committee recommended that he be suspended from Parliament for 35 days.[30][31] In February 2024, Benton lost his appeal against the proposed suspension.[32] MPs later voted to approve his suspension of 35 days from the House of Commons,[33][34] triggering a recall petition which, if successful, would have led to a by-election.[35][36] On 25 March 2024, however, Benton tendered his resignation and ceased to be an MP when he was appointed as Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.[37]

Personal life

Benton married Harry Symonds in November 2021 in the Palace of Westminster.[38] He is gay and came out to his parents shortly before his wedding.[39]

Benton is Christian and cited the Old Testament as his favourite book in a 2022 interview.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Scott Benton resigns as MP, paving way for Blackpool by-election". Yahoo News. 25 March 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Scott Benton: Ex-Tory MP resigns leaving PM to face new by-election". BBC News. 25 March 2024.
  3. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  4. ^ a b c "Benton, Scott Lloyd, (born 1 July 1987), MP (C) Blackpool South, since 2019". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293926. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Tories opt for 'new approach' in Benton". Brighouse Echo. 13 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  6. ^ a b The Real Me: Scott Benton, Conservative MP for Blackpool South, speaks to Gloria De Piero. GBNews (YouTube). 10 March 2022. Event occurs at 00:55. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  7. ^ Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". politicshome.com. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Brighouse: Election of District Councillors 2011 – 05/05/2011". Calderdale Council. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  9. ^ a b "Calderdale councillor selected as Conservative candidate for Blackpool South". Halifax Courier. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  10. ^ Monaghan, John (3 February 2017). "Tories select thirteen Assembly candidates, with just one 'parachuted' in from Britain". The Irish News. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Council reject proposals to sing national anthem every day". ITV News. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  12. ^ "NI Assembly Election 2017". EONI. Archived from the original on 19 August 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Huddersfield parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  14. ^ "Blackpool South parliamentary constituency - Election 2019" – via www.bbc.com.
  15. ^ Moffitt, Dominic (14 November 2019). "Blackpool South General Election 2019 list of candidates: Who should I vote for?". LancsLive.
  16. ^ a b Powys Maurice, Emma (20 November 2019). "A gay Brexit Party candidate is taking his Tory rival to task over links with a 'homophobic' group". PinkNews. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  17. ^ Hunt, Richard (19 November 2019). "Blackpool South election candidates clash over 'homophobia'". Blackpool Gazette.
  18. ^ a b Graves, James (2 November 2020). "Blackpool MP Scott Benton facing separate investigations relating to his conduct and finances (blackpoolgazette.co.uk)". Blackpool Gazette. Johnston Press. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  19. ^ a b c Greenwood, John (23 March 2021). "Senior Conservative, and Blackpool MP, resigns his Brighouse seat on Calderdale Council". Halifax Courier. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  20. ^ Hirst, Ian (8 May 2021). "Calderdale elections results: This is how they day unfolded as Labour remained in control". Halifax Courier. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Arthur Labinjo-Hughes case shows we need the death penalty, says Blackpool South MP Scott Benton". Blackpool Gazette. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  22. ^ "List of PPS – June 2022" (PDF). gov.uk. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  23. ^ Robinson, Breanna (24 June 2022). "Tory MP retweets then deletes tweet celebrating Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade". indy100. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  24. ^ Steerpike (25 June 2022). "Memo to MPs: Britain is not America". The Spectator. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  25. ^ Mason, Rowena; Walker, Peter (15 July 2021). "Nine MPs accepted free Euro 2020 tickets from gambling companies". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  26. ^ Kenber, Billy; Nachiappan, Arthi; Butt, Yasmin; Sobocinska, Kasia; De Caria, Federica (5 April 2023). "Exposed: How Tory MP offered to lobby for gambling investors". Archived from the original on 5 April 2023.
  27. ^ Kenber, Billy; Nachiappan, Arthi (24 April 2023). "Scott Benton: Standards watchdog opens investigation into scandal MP". The Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2023.(subscription required)
  28. ^ "The Times view on Scott Benton: On the Take". The Times. 5 April 2023. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023.(subscription required)
  29. ^ Witherow, Tom; Kenber, Billy (13 May 2023). "Whitewash claim after Scott Benton is cleared over 'offer to lobby'". The Times. Archived from the original on 12 May 2023.(subscription required)
  30. ^ "Suspended Tory MP Scott Benton faces 35-day Commons ban". BBC News. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  31. ^ "Scott Benton". House of Commons Committee on Standards. 14 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
  32. ^ Stevens, John (20 February 2024). "Rishi Sunak faces another nightmare by-election as Scott Benton loses appeal". The Mirror. Retrieved 20 February 2024.
  33. ^ Badshah, Nadeem (27 February 2024). "Rishi Sunak faces fresh byelection as former Tory MP suspended". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  34. ^ "Scott Benton: Lobbying scandal MP recall petition triggered". BBC News. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
  35. ^ "Lobbying scandal MP loses suspension appeal". BBC News. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  36. ^ Badshah, Nadeem (27 February 2024). "Rishi Sunak faces fresh byelection as former Tory MP suspended". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 February 2024.
  37. ^ "Sunak facing another by-election as lobbying sting MP Scott Benton quits". The Independent. 25 March 2024. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  38. ^ "Blackpool South MP Scott Benton hits back at hypocrisy allegations after marrying partner amid campaign to scrap Human Rights Act". Blackpool Gazette. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  39. ^ The Real Me: Scott Benton, Conservative MP for Blackpool South, speaks to Gloria De Piero. GBNews (YouTube). 10 March 2022. Event occurs at 03:00. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Blackpool South
2019–2024 		Vacant
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