Scott Benton (politician)

Scott Lloyd Benton (born 1 July 1987)[1] is the Member of Parliament for Blackpool South, holding office since the 2019 United Kingdom general election. A member of the Conservative Party, he was previously a councillor on Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council. On 5 April 2023 Benton had the Conservative Party whip suspended while the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards investigates a fake lobbying role he was offered by reporters from The Times.

Scott Benton
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Blackpool South
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byGordon Marsden
Majority3,690 (11.3%)
Personal details
Born (1987-07-01) 1 July 1987
Newport, Wales
Political partyIndependent (since 2023)
Conservative (before 2023)
Spouse
Harry Symonds
​
(m. 2021)​
EducationRastrick High School
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham
Websitescottbenton.org.uk

Early life and education

Benton was born in Newport, Wales, to Alan and Krystina Benton.[2] He grew up in Rastrick, West Yorkshire, and attended Rastrick High School.[3]

He studied theology as an undergraduate at the University of Nottingham and was awarded a first Bachelor of Arts degree and also later completed a Master of Arts degree in the subject.[2] After graduating, Benton worked as a primary school teacher.[4]

Political career

In 2011, Benton was elected to Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council for the Brighouse ward.[5] At times he was deputy leader of the Council and then leader of the Conservative group.

While a councillor, Benton worked as a Parliamentary assistant for Craig Whittaker, the Conservative MP for Calder Valley.[6]

Benton previously ran for Strangford at the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election[7] and Huddersfield, a safe seat for the Labour Party, at the 2017 general election.[8]

Benton contested and won Blackpool South at the 2019 general election. His win marked the first time since 1997 that the constituency has been represented by a Conservative. He achieved a swing of 9.4%, and was elected with a majority of 3,690 votes.[9] His campaign focused on delivering Brexit and reopening Blackpool Airport for commercial flights.[10]

During the 2019 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 been accused of homophobia.[11] 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.[12]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with the Atlantic slave trade, Benton was among the signatories of a letter to The Daily Telegraph in November 2020 from the Common Sense Group of Conservative Parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory dogma".[13]

In July 2021, it was reported by The Guardian that 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 received tickets to Royal Ascot, two Euro 2020 football games and Wimbledon.[14]

On 13 June 2022, Benton was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ministerial team.[15]

Political views

In December 2021, Benton expressed support for the death penalty in certain scenarios.[16]

Benton is anti-abortion.[11] 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.[17][18]

Breach of parliamentary rules

In January 2021, Benton was found to have broken Parliamentary rules.[19] The complainant alleged Benton had failed to register six entries in the Register of Members' Financial Interests within the House's 28-day deadline, for payments received for his work as a Members' researcher.

When asked about the allegations in November 2020, Benton had said that "an admin error" meant his income from Calderdale Council had not been properly declared. Benton had said there had been "vexatious and deeply unpleasant" complaints about his conduct. He said: "I have no doubt that the complaints... made about me to Calderdale Council and the Parliamentary authorities will be found to be without substance."[20]

The Parliamentary commissioner for standards found that in failing to register his various interests within the specified time frame, he had breached the rules. After the complaint was upheld, Benton said: "I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge my mistake and apologise once again for inadvertently breaching the rules."[19]

2023 fake lobbying role offer

On 5 April 2023, according to The Times, journalists posing as gambling industry investors offered Benton a paid advisory role. Benton chose not to accept the role and according to BBC News "no rules appear to have been broken".[21] In a statement Benton said that before he realised that the company was a fake setup by journalists, he consulted with the Commons Registrar and the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner who he said then clarified the rules for him, and he thus had no further contact with the "company".[21] Benton then referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and a spokesperson for Conservative chief whip, Simon Hart, said that Benton's case was being investigated and that he had had the Conservative Party Whip suspended for the duration.[21]

Personal life

Benton married Harry Symonds in November 2021 in the Palace of Westminster.[22]

References
  1. Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. "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.
  3. "Tories opt for 'new approach' in Benton". Brighouse Echo. 13 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 July 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  4. Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". politicshome.com. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  5. "Brighouse: Election of District Councillors 2011 - 05/05/2011". Calderdale Council. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  6. "Calderdale councillor selected as Conservative candidate for Blackpool South". Halifax Courier. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  7. Monaghan, John (3 February 2017). "Tories select thirteen Assembly candidates, with just one 'parachuted' in from Britain". The Irish News. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  8. Lavigueur, Nick (6 June 2017). "General Election 2017: Huddersfield candidates pitch for your vote". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  9. "Blackpool South MP Scott Benton suspended after appearing to offer to lobby for gambling investors". ITV News. 5 April 2023.
  10. Moffitt, Dominic (14 November 2019). "Blackpool South General Election 2019 list of candidates: Who should I vote for?". LancsLive.
  11. 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.
  12. Hunt, Richard (19 November 2019). "Blackpool South election candidates clash over 'homophobia'". Blackpool Gazette.
  13. "Britain's heroes". Letter to The Telegraph. 9 November 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2021.{{cite press release}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. Mason, Rowena; Walker, Peter (15 July 2021). "Nine MPs accepted free Euro 2020 tickets from gambling companies". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  15. Heale, James [@JAHeale] (13 June 2022). "-Scott Benton to the FCDO team" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 June 2022 – via Twitter.
  16. "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.
  17. Robinson, Breanna (24 June 2022). "Tory MP retweets then deletes tweet celebrating Supreme Court overturning Roe v Wade". indy100. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  18. Steerpike (25 June 2022). "Memo to MPs: Britain is not America". The Spectator. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  19. Greenwood, John (12 January 2021). "Calderdale councillor and Blackpool South MP breached Parliamentary rules". Halifax Courier. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  20. Graves, James (2 November 2020). "Blackpool MP and Calderdale councillor Scott Benton facing separate investigations relating to his conduct and finances". Halifax Courier. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  21. "Scott Benton suspended as Tory MP after lobbying sting". BBC News. 5 April 2023.
  22. "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.
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