Former Conservative lawmaker resigns, setting up fresh test for UK PM Sunak

LONDON: A former member of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives said he would resign as a lawmaker after a standards watchdog recommended a 35-day suspension for committing an “extremely serious breach” of parliament’s rules.

Scott Benton’s resignation sets up a vote to replace him that could cause Sunak another potential headache in May, when his Conservatives - trailing badly in the polls - are already set to be tested in a number of local votes.

In December, a report from the independent Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards found Benton had breached rules that say lawmakers should not take any action which would cause significant damage to the integrity of parliament. The Times newspaper published a video in which Benton told its undercover reporters, who were posing as gambling industry investors looking for a paid adviser, that he could leak them a copy of an upcoming market-sensitive government policy paper on gambling reforms.

Benton, who has been a member of parliament since 2019, also offered to submit parliamentary questions and talked of his access to ministers. The journalists had proposed paying him thousands of pounds a month, the Times said.