Sunak facing ANOTHER by-election as MP braced for suspension from Commons
Rishi Sunak is facing another by-election, as Tory MP Scott Benton is expected to be hit with a 10-day suspension from the Commons
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Rishi Sunak is facing another by-election, as MP Scott Benton is expected to be hit with a 10-day suspension from the Commons.
The Standards Committee is braced to issue the suspension in the coming weeks.
The former Tory MP was suspended in April and now sits as an independent.
The suspension was put in place after he was recorded offering to lobby ministers and leak confidential information on behalf of investors from the gambling industry.
Tory MP Scott Benton is expected to be hit with a 10-day suspension from the Commons
PA
Speaking unknowingly to undercover reporters, he suggested he was able to get around transparency and lobbying rules.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is poised to issue a 10-day suspension for his actions, sources told the Mirror.
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”.
Benton's constituency, Blackpool South, was held by Labour from 1997 to 2019 until it was taken by the Conservatives.
He has a narrow majority of only 3,690 votes.
Sunak is gearing up for two by-elections in Tamworth and Mid-Bedfordshire, taking place on Friday.
Nadine Dorries resigned earlier this summer, triggering a by-election in Mid Bedfordshire.
The Tamworth by-election was called after Chris Pincher resigned.
He stepped down after he lost an appeal against a proposed Commons suspension for groping two men while drunk.
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Pincher holds a rock solid majority of 19,634 in Tamworth.
A majority that size means there is not much for Labour to lose when they go to the polls but with the Tories trailing almost 15 points behind Labour at a national level, such a by-election could be extremely damaging for the Conservative Party.