New allegations against Tory MP suspended over gambling lobbying
Scott Benton offered to lobby ministers for reporters posing as gambling investors.
UK.- New allegations have emerged against the Conservative Party MP Scott Benton. The MP for Blackpool South was suspended after The Times filmed him offering to lobby ministers for the gambling industry.
Undercover reports posing as gambling investors filmed Benton offering to lobby on their behalf. He claimed that he would be able to table parliamentary questions for the reporters and that he would be able to leak a copy of the government’s delayed gambling white paper to them up to 48 hours before it is published.
The British Parliament’s code of conduct prohibits MPs from lobbying in exchange for payment. As a result of the investigation, Benton referred himself to Parliament’s standards watchdog.
Now new allegations, also published by The Times, claim that the MP tried to help a casino gain a better licence for a casino and also attempted to influence the selection of the chair of the industry regulator, the Gambling Commission.
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that Benton wrote privately to the then gambling minister John Whittingdale in August 2021 to express the “extreme worry and anxiety of the whole gambling industry” about three out of four candidates rumoured to be in the running to chair the Gambling Commission. The only candidate he did not object to was Marcus Boyle, the former Deloitte board member, who was appointed to the position the following month.
Benton said in a statement sent to the BBC: “Last month I was approached by a purported company offering me an expert advisory role. I met with two individuals claiming to represent the company to find out what this role entailed.
“After this meeting, I was asked to forward my CV and some other personal details. I did not do so as I was concerned that what was being asked of me was not within Parliamentary rules.
“I contacted the Commons Registrar and the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner who clarified these rules for me and had no further contact with the company. I did this before being made aware that the company did not exist and the individuals claiming to represent it were journalists.”
A spokesperson for Conservative chief whip Simon Hart said: “Following his self-referral to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards earlier this evening, Scott Benton has had the Conservative Party Whip suspended whilst an investigation is ongoing.”
