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On {{Date|13 June 2022}} Benton was appointed as a [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] in the [[Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office]] ministerial team.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1084353/List_of_PPSs_-_June_2022.pdf|title=List of PPS – June 2022|accessdate=2 October 2023|publisher=gov.uk}}</ref>
Benton is anti-abortion.<ref name=":1" /> In June 2022, following the ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'' decision of the [[US Supreme Court]] – which reversed the 1973 ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''
===Breaches of parliamentary rules===
In January 2021, Benton was found to have broken Parliamentary rules for failing to declare payments he had received for his previous work as a parliamentary researcher for [[Calder Valley (UK Parliament constituency)|Calder Valley]] MP [[Craig Whittaker]] and as a councillor for Brighouse ward on Calderdale Council within 28 days.<ref name="greenwood"/> When asked about the allegations in November 2020, he cited "an admin error" for failing to declare his income as a councillor.<ref name="graves"/> In response to the [[Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards]]' findings, Benton apologised for "inadvertently breaching the rules".<ref name=greenwood/>
In July 2021, Benton was one of nine MPs from different political parties who had accepted tickets to high-profile sporting events as hospitality from betting and gambling companies. He had received tickets to [[Royal Ascot]], two [[UEFA Euro 2020|Euro 2020]] football games and [[The Championships, Wimbledon|Wimbledon]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/jul/15/nine-mps-free-euro-2020-tickets-gambling-companies |work=The Guardian |title=Nine MPs accepted free Euro 2020 tickets from gambling companies |last1=Mason |first1=Rowena |last2=Walker |first2=Peter |date=15 July 2021 |access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref>
In April 2023, ''[[The Times]]'' newspaper filmed Benton appearing to offer to leak confidential information and lobby ministers in return for payments, from a group of undercover journalists posing as gambling industry investors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kenber|first1=Billy|first2=Arthi|last2= Nachiappan |first3=Yasmin|last3=Butt|first4=Kasia|last4=Sobocinska|first5=Federica|last5= De Caria|title=Exposed: How Tory MP offered to lobby for gambling investors |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription|date=5 April 2023 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230405195808/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-mp-scott-benton-lobbying-investigation-ckhzrfqg0 |archive-date=5 April 2023 |language=en}}</ref> In response, he referred himself to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards who opened an investigation in the same month. Benton also had his whip suspended pending the results of the investigation. At the time he was also the chairman of the [[All-party parliamentary group]] on betting and gaming.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scott-benton-standards-watchdog-opens-investigation-into-scandal-mp-r0cbr8k5v|work=The Times|date=24 April 2023|last1=Kenber|first1=Billy|last2=Nachiappan|first2=Arthi|title=Scott Benton: Standards watchdog opens investigation into scandal MP|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20230424190741/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/scott-benton-standards-watchdog-opens-investigation-into-scandal-mp-r0cbr8k5v|archivedate=24 April 2023}}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-scott-benton-on-the-take-k88znn2g9|work=The Times|date=5 April 2023|title=The Times view on Scott Benton: On the Take|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20230405210436/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-scott-benton-on-the-take-k88znn2g9|archivedate=5 April 2023}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
The [[Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists]], a body set up in 2014 to monitor political lobbying, ruled that Benton had not conducted "unregistered consultant lobbying activity" on behalf of the gambling industry based on "assurances" that they had received.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whitewash-claim-tory-scott-benton-cleared-offer-to-lobby-qhbbr6vdt|title=Whitewash claim after Scott Benton is cleared over 'offer to lobby'|date=13 May 2023|last1=Witherow|first1=Tom|last2=Kenber|work=The Times|first2=Billy|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20230512233251/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/whitewash-claim-tory-scott-benton-cleared-offer-to-lobby-qhbbr6vdt|archivedate=12 May 2023}}{{subscription required}}</ref>
In December 2023, a report by the [[Commons Select Committee on Standards|Commons Standards Committee]] stated that "The meeting the undercover reporters was not in any sense of Mr Benton’s seeking, and there is no evidence that he has ever sought opportunities to make improper financial gains from his position as a Member."
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