Former Conservative MP Scott Benton has been suspended from the House of Commons for 35 days over his role in a lobbying scandal.
The Blackpool South MP is in excess of the 10-day threshold that triggers a recall petition and could lead to a by-election.
MPs approved the suspension of Benton on Tuesday evening without the need for a vote - known as going through on the nod.
Benton lost the Tory whip removed last April after suggesting to undercover reporters at The Times that he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money.
He appealed against both the finding and the suspension, where parliament's Standards Committee found that he had committed a "very serious breach".
However, in a report published last week, an independent panel upheld the committee’s original decision, saying there had been “no procedural flaw” in the review.
In 2019, Benton won a majority of 3,690 in a seat that had voted Labour since 1997.
If a vote is triggered, the seat will likely swing back to Keir Starmer's party, in another embarrassing defeat for the Prime Minister who suffered a double by-election blow earlier this month.
More to follow...
