Richard Benyon Minister for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2009 until the 2010 general election when he entered government. He was also one of the first 15 MPs to support David Cameron's Conservative Party leadership bid. In May 2009, he was listed by "The Daily Telegraph" as one of the "saints" in the expenses scandal exposed by that newspaper. He was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in the first Cameron Ministry. and remained in post until the junior and middle ranking Cameron reshuffle of October 2013. In 2012, while Wildlife
Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 parliamentary privilege could not be used to prevent the IPSA from carrying out investigations against Members of Parliament, however this clause was voted down in the House of Commons by 250-247. The Act also creates a criminal offence of providing false or misleading information for allowances claims, punishable by a fine and/or up to 12 months imprisonment. Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 The Parliamentary Standards Act 2009 (c.13) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that entered into force in part on 21 July 2009, largely as a response to the Parliamentary expenses scandal. The Act was considered