Blackpool South MP Scott Benton is set to be suspended from the Commons for 35 days after his appeal against the Standards Committee’s decision was dismissed by an independent panel.

Mr Benton, who was elected as a Conservative but now sits as an independent, 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.

He appealed against both the finding and the suspension, but in a report published on Tuesday, an independent panel upheld the Standards Committee’s original decision, saying there had been “no procedural flaw” in the process.

The panel also described Mr Benton’s arguments against the recommended suspension as “misconceived or erroneous”, finding the sanction was “neither unreasonable nor disproportionate”.

The finding means MPs will now vote on whether to implement the recommended suspension which, if supported, would trigger a recall petition and a potential by-election in Mr Benton’s seat.

The Conservatives won Blackpool South in 2019 with a majority of just 3,690, raising the prospect of another difficult by-election for the Prime Minister after losses in Wellingborough and Kingswood last week.