Rishi Sunak is facing another by-election in a red wall seat after Scott Benton resigned today as an MP, GB News can reveal.
Benton, the MP for Blackpool South, was already facing a recall petition and potentially a by-election after MPs approved a motion to suspend him from the Commons for 35 days.
The upcoming by-election is likely to be yet another headache for the Conservative Government, with the Tories already having lost more by-elections in a single parliament than any administration since the 1960s.
The by-election is expected to take place on May 2, the same day as the local elections.
Rishi Sunak is facing another by-election in a red wall seat after Scott Benton resigned today as an MP, GB News can reveal
PA
In a letter today, Benton said: "It's with a heavy heart that I have written to the Chancellor this morning to tender my resignation as your MP.
"I'd like to thank the hundreds of residents who have sent supportive messages, cards and letters over the last few months and who have urged me to continue and fight the next election."
Benton, who now sits as an independent, was found to have broken Commons rules when he was caught offering to act on behalf of gambling investors.
Blackpool South is currently held with a narrow majority of only 3,690 votes. When Benton won the seat in 2019, it was the first time the Conservative Party had won in the constituency since 1992.
He won the election with 49.6 per cent of the vote share, while Labour took 38.3 per cent.
A total of 12 by-elections have been held in the UK since Sunak became Prime Minister. Of those, the Tory Party has won just one, in Uxbridge.
Labour gained seats in Kingswood, Wellingborough, Tamworth, Mid Bedfordshire, Rutherglen and Selby.
The Liberal Democrats gained Somerton and Frome, and Labour held the seat in the Chester and Stretford by-election.
Benton was suspended in April after he was recorded offering to lobby ministers and leak confidential information on behalf of investors from the gambling industry.
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Speaking unknowingly to undercover reporters, he suggested he was able to get around transparency and lobbying rules.
The Code of Conduct for MPs demands that members "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”.
