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Conservative MP Scott Benton has revealed in an exclusive GB News interview that he only came out as gay when he was ready to walk down the aisle.
Speaking with Gloria De Piero, the MP for Blackpool South said that while his close friends knew, his parents were in the dark about his sexuality right up until his marriage to his husband.
He said: “I think it was a shock in some regards, but probably less so in other aspects and they were very supportive.
“[Coming out] is a very personal decision. I think I made the correct decision to let people know when I was fully ready and that just happened to be when I was ready to walk down the aisle with the person I love."
The wedding took place in the House of Commons in November late last year following what Mr Benton described as a “classic lockdown romance, while obeying all Covid rules and restrictions,” he added.
During the interview, which is part of De Piero’s “Real Me” series, Mr Benton expressed how married life has given him “perspective” and a better work-life balance.
He said: “I’m enjoying married life, it certainly adds a bit of perspective because before I was in a relationship, I use to spend 80 hours a week on the job, every spare moment of the day was responding to emails and canvassing.
“So, I think it probably does help to have a well-rounded view of life and obviously having a marriage is part of that."
Mr Benton, who was elected around the same time Sir David Amass was murdered at his constituency surgeries, later spoke about receiving threats and verbal abuse on the job.
He described one incident last Friday where the police were called after his team were harassed and chased down the street for 15 minutes by a man while out canvassing.
He said: “We did feel threatened, he was extremely intimidating and you could have easily envisaged a scenario where that situation would have moved on to become something very different.”
It took 20 minutes for the police to arrive on the scene. "A lot can happen in 20 minutes, so that was a bit concerning," Mr Benton told De Piero.
The incident was one of two in six months where his team were forced to call the police, showing the level of opposition MPs face when doing their daily jobs.
While Mr Benton is often escorted by his security team when working in his constituency, when De Piero asked the MP if he feels safe in his job he replied ambivalently: “Yes and no, to say the honest truth."