Scott Benton (politician)

Scott Lloyd Benton (born 1 July 1987) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected to at the 2019 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackpool South, whilst concurrently serving as a councillor on Calderdale Council.

Scott Benton

MP
Benton in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Blackpool South
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byGordon Marsden
Majority3,690 (11.3%)
Personal details
Born (1987-07-01) 1 July 1987[1]
Newport, Wales
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Nottingham

Early life and education

Scott was born in Newport in 1987, but spent most of his early life in West Yorkshire. At age 11 he attended his local state school in Brighouse, Rastrick High School.

He studied Theology as an undergraduate at the University of Nottingham and was awarded a 1st Class Honours Degree. During this time he also worked in the Students' Union bar. He remained at the university to study for a postgraduate degree and gained a Masters in Theology.

After leaving formal education, Scott worked as a primary school teacher where he focused on supporting under-privileged children.[2]

Political career

In 2011, Benton was elected to Calderdale Council for the Brighouse Ward.[3] As a councillor he spent periods of time as Deputy Leader of the Council and then Leader of the Conservative Group. He was an active councillor in his ward assisting over 400 individuals with local issues in 2017.[4]

Alongside being a councillor Scott worked as a Parliamentary Assistant for the MP for Calder Valley, Craig Whittaker.[5]

He previously ran for Strangford at the 2017 Northern Ireland Assembly election[6] and for Huddersfield at the 2017 general election.[7]

Scott contested and won the Blackpool South seat at the 2019 general election. He was "parachuted in" to the seat, with suggestions that the local Conservative Association were unhappy that a Blackpool resident was not chosen as their candidate. His win marks the first time since 1997 that the constituency has been represented by a Conservative. He achieved a swing of 9.4%, and was elected with a majority of 3,690 votes. His campaign focused on delivering Brexit, reopening Blackpool Airport for commercial flights and opposing the plans for development on Stanley Park Golf Course.

He was a member of SPUC (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children), a pro-life, anti-abortion (even in cases of rape)[8] lobbying group that also campaigns against same-sex marriage and sex education in schools.[9] Despite the latter, Benton has stated he is personally in favour of same-sex marriage, saying "I am not homophobic and I am passionately in favour of same-sex marriage. I was a member of the SPUC because I am pro-life but am no longer involved.".[10]

In June 2020, speaking in a debate on the introduction of "no fault" divorce, he claimed that making it easier for people to get a divorce will lead to more people needing to use food banks. The comment was later described by Labour's Stella Creasy as "deplorable."[11]

References
  1. "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  2. "About Scott". Scott Benton. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  3. "Brighouse: Election of District Councillors 2011 - 05/05/2011: Calderdale Council". Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council.
  4. "Calderdale Council". www.calderdale.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  5. "Calderdale councillor selected as Conservative candidate for Blackpool South". www.halifaxcourier.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  6. Monaghan, John (3 February 2017). "Assembly candidates, with just one 'parachuted' in from Britain". The Irish News. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  7. Lavigueur, Nick (6 June 2017). "General Election 2017: Huddersfield candidates pitch for your vote". Huddersfield Examiner. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  8. Benjamin. "Hard Cases". SPUC. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  9. Maurice, Emma (20 November 2019). "A gay Brexit Party candidate is taking his Tory rival to task over links with a 'homophobic' group". Pink News. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  10. "Blackpool South election candidates clash over 'homophobia'". www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  11. "Tory MP claims it's a 'fact' making divorce easier will mean more people need foodbanks". www.mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Gordon Marsden		 Member of Parliament for Blackpool South
2019–present		 Incumbent


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