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In the last few moments, parliament’s standards committee has published a report into the conduct of MP Scott Benton.

It comes after an investigation into the Blackpool South MP, who was elected as a Conservative in 2019, after being caught indicating he would be willing to break lobbying rules for money.

Earlier this year, Mr Benton met undercover reporters from The Times posing as employees of TAHR Partners, a fake company lobbying to influence government policy, at a central London hotel in March.

The Times had been investigating allegations the gambling industry has secured support from MPs in exchange for financial reward, in an echo of the “cash for questions” scandal that engulfed Sir John Major’s premiership.

The newspaper contacted a number of MPs offering paid work as an expert adviser and Mr Benton, who is the chair of the all-party parliamentary group for betting and gaming, responded and suggested he would be happy to be paid between £2,000 and £4,000 a month to help the fake company.

In a statement sent to Sky News when the allegations first emerged in April, Mr Benton said: “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.”

After investigating the allegations against Mr Benton, the standards committee has recommended that he be suspended from parliament for 35 days, describing his conducted as an “extremely serious breach” of the rules governing the conduct of MPs.

If the sanction is approved by MPs, this will trigger a recall petition in his Blackpool South constituency.

If enough voters in his constituency sign the petition there will be a by-election, with Mr Benton able to stand if he wants to.