Scott Benton quits as Blackpool South MP

• Political correspondent David Wood reports on Scott Benton's resignation.

Blackpool South MP Scott Benton, who lost the Conservative whip after being embroiled in a lobbying scandal, has announced on social media that he will quit Parliament rather than wait for the outcome of a recall petition.

Writing to his constituents on Facebook, he said it was with 'a heavy heart' that he had written to the Chancellor to tender his resignation.

His resignation will trigger a by-election unless Rishi Sunak calls a general election sooner.

The MP wrote: "A Labour government would be catastrophic for our country.

"I'm mindful of giving a new candidate the time and space to campaign to prevent that from happening and it is for this reason that I have made this decision at this time."

Mr Benton was found to have breached Commons rules after he was caught by The Times offering to lobby ministers and table parliamentary questions on behalf of gambling investors.

In his resignation post, Benton said the government had not 'got everything right' but that he had been 'robust' in speaking out for Blackpool.

Have you heard our new podcast Talking Politics? Every week Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda…