Former Tory MP Scott Benton resigns from parliament - triggering by-election

A prior member of the Conservative Party in Parliament was at risk of losing his position due to voters, so he declared his exit from parliament, leading to yet another by-election.

Scott Benton, the elected representative for Blackpool South, expressed his utmost delight in being able to serve the people of Blackpool in Parliament for the past four years. He considers it a great privilege to represent such a wonderful community.

In a post on X, he expressed his sadness as he communicated to the chancellor this morning, his decision to step down from his position as your MP.

If the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak doesn't call for a general election sooner, his resignation will lead to a by-election. However, it is improbable that an election will be held on May 2nd since the Prime Minister has made it clear that he is still targeting the latter part of the year.

According to Sky News, the by-election will only happen if MPs approve it, which could happen as soon as tomorrow. If approved, it's possible that the competition will take place on 2 May, which is the same day as the local elections.

In the year 2019, the Blackpool South seat was won by Mr. Benton, but he only had a narrow lead of 3,690 votes. Now, the Labour party is aiming to take back the seat by winning a by-election.

This seat is part of the group of constituencies called the "red wall," which are historically loyal to the Labour Party but in the 2019 elections, they shifted their support to the Conservative Party led by Boris Johnson.

Mr. Benton was confronted with a recall petition, which was set to end on April 22nd, following his suspension from the House of Commons for 35 days due to his involvement in a lobbying scandal.

Members of Parliament (MPs) endorsed the suspension just a month ago without requiring a ballot.

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If 10% of Mr. Benton's constituents signed the recall petition that emerged after his suspension, he could have been removed from his position as an independent by the voters.

He has made the decision to leave parliament instead of waiting for the results of the petition.

Last April, the MP who was leaving his post had his membership of the Tory whip taken away. This happened because he implied to covert reporters from The Times that he was open to breaking regulations on lobbying in exchange for money.

Afterwards, an inquiry carried out by the Standards Committee in parliament discovered that he had violated the regulations in a severe manner, and they proposed that he be suspended from the House of Commons for 35 days.

Afterwards, Mr. Benton challenged the verdict, but the Independent Expert Panel, which is superior to the committee, declined his appeal.

Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general for the Labour Party, expressed disappointment that the MP did not resign earlier. In interviews with media outlets, he noted that the Conservative Party is currently in a state of disarray. He emphasized that there is a significant divide within the party and that leadership is weak under Rishi Sunak.

Right away, we require this by-election. The Conservative party ought to initiate the process and allow us to proceed to elect a representative from the Labour party who can voice and advocate for the community of Blackpool in the Parliament.

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The upcoming by-election will be the 23rd one to take place during this parliament. It comes after the previous one in Rochdale, which was won by the outspoken leftist, George Galloway, just last month.

Earlier this month, Mr Sunak declined the possibility of holding a general election on 2 May despite rumors that he might opt for an early election.

Beforehand, the premier declared that he was assuming an election would occur in the latter part of the year, however he hadn't excluded the possibility of a May schedule.