“It has been the honor of a lifetime to represent our wonderful Blackpool community in parliament over the last four years,” stated Blackpool South representative Scott Benton.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I have written to the chancellor this morning to tender my resignation as your MP,” he said in an article on the news.
If Prime Minister Rishi Sunak calls a general election sooner—which is doubtful given that he ruled out conducting an election on May 2 and stated he is still targeting the second half of the term—his resignation will set off a by-election.
According to News, the by-election will take place after MPs are asked if they support it; this might happen as soon as tomorrow. This implies that the competition might take place on May 2, the day of the local elections.
With a narrow majority of 3,690 votes, Mr. Benton was elected to the Blackpool South seat in 2019, and Labour would like to reclaim it in a by-election.
This constituency is in the category of “red wall” seats, which are historically Labour districts that voted for Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in 2019.
