“He communicated a toxic message about standards in parliament. We condemn Mr Benton for his comments, which unjustifiably tarnish the reputation of all MPs,” the committee said.

Benton, 36, who has been sitting as an independent after having the Conservative whip suspended when the story broke last April, appealed against the committee’s findings and his suspension to parliament’s independent expert panel (IEP).

He claimed the report had been leaked to the media in advance and contained factual inaccuracies. “If those that judge MPs are not being open-minded, fair and proportionate in the way that they are handling evidence or examining witnesses, our democracy is under threat,” he said.

• Read the investigation that exposed Scott Benton

On Tuesday morning the IEP announced that it had rejected his appeal. It found that there was “no substance to the allegation of a leak from the committee and therefore no procedural flaw in the process”, and concluded that Benton’s arguments were “misconceived or erroneous”. The panel said his suspension was “neither unreasonable nor disproportionate”.

That decision paves the way for MPs to vote on his suspension which, if passed, would trigger a recall petition. That would, in turn, lead to a by-election — likely to be no earlier than late April — if signed by more than 10 per cent of voters in his Blackpool South seat.

Benton won a majority of 3,690 in 2019, so Labour would be strong favourites to win, having overturned five-figure Tory majorities in this month’s by-elections in Wellingborough and Kingswood. Blackpool South was held by Labour from 1997 until 2019.

Benton issued a lengthy statement in which he repeated his criticisms of the standards investigation’s process and said he was “deeply disappointed” with the outcome of his appeal. He is understood to be planning to run as an independent candidate in the by-election and has been distributing leaflets to voters.

Benton won Blackpool South for the Tories in 2019, but with a majority of only 3,690

REFER TO CAPTION

During the meeting with undercover reporters last year, Benton, who was chairman of the all-party parliamentary group for betting and gaming, said many other MPs were willing to help a company from which they had accepted corporate hospitality by tabling a written question or raising an issue in parliament.

He also claimed that MPs were circumventing rules on declaring corporate hospitality by accepting falsely low tabs for tickets they had accepted to sporting and cultural events.

MPs are required to disclose all hospitality worth £300 or more but Benton laughed as he told reporters: “So, without saying too much, you’d be amazed at the number of times I’ve been to races and the ticket comes to £295.”

Several MPs criticised Benton for continuing to make the most of the trappings of office while the appeal process continued, including using his access to the parliamentary terrace to watch the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

Labour called on him to resign without waiting for a recall petition. Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow paymaster general, said: “Scott Benton should do the decent thing and resign, saving the people of Blackpool South a lengthy recall petition that would leave them without the representation they deserve.

“This is yet another by-election caused by Tory scandal. Britain deserves better than this carousel of Conservative chaos.”

70-minute meeting exposes lobbying scheme

Benton cut a relaxed figure as he met with gambling industry investors in the lobby of a plush central London hotel in March last year.

He had responded to an email from an investment fund interested in the betting and gaming sector called Tahr Partners, which explained how they were seeking a paid “expert adviser” to provide guidance on the “turbulent political and regulatory landscape” amid a major review of gambling regulations.

Over the course of a 70-minute meeting, Benton laid out the services he could offer if hired, from directly lobbying ministers and providing “behind the scenes” information to tabling parliamentary questions and leaking a highly sensitive policy document. Potential payment terms of between £1,000 and £2,000 a day were discussed.

In reality, Tahr Partners was a fictional company set up by undercover reporters from The Times who were investigating allegations that, despite a string of scandals, certain MPs were still willing to break strict rules banning paid lobbying.

Benton was secretly filmed as he boasted of how he had “the direct ear of a minister” and offered to leak a forthcoming gambling white paper at least 48 hours before it was made public, despite the fact it would contain market-sensitive information the fake company could profit from.

His privileged position, the MP explained, meant he could offer insight and influence that a lobbying or public affairs firm couldn’t match. He told the reporters that “the beauty of politicians … [is] we vote in the House of Commons two or three times a day, and we’ll be voting later.

“You will literally stand at the entrance to the voting lobby. And if you wait there for five minutes, the minister has to pass you. And then you’ve got ten minutes … to have his ear,” he said.

The services Benton outlined breach strict parliamentary rules banning paid lobbying by MPs and the Commons standards committee subsequently ruled that his behaviour amounted to an “extremely serious” breach of the rules.

After a failed appeal, his career as a member of parliament appears to be about to end.