He has been a Justice of the Peace on the Bootle Bench since 1969. He was elected to serve as a councillor on Bootle County Borough council in 1970, moving to Sefton Borough Council after local government reform in 1973 and serving until his election to Parliament in 1990. Benton was member for the Derby ward from 1970 to 1991 and Leader of the Council from 1985 before being succeeded by Peter Dowd. Dowd also succeeded Benton as MP for the Bootle constituency in May 2015.