Betts stood unsuccessfully as the Labour Party candidate in Sheffield's Burngreave ward in the 1975 city council election.

[4] At the October 1974 general election, Betts stood as the Labour candidate in Sheffield Hallam, coming second with 29% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP John Osborn.

[5] Betts stood in Louth at the 1979 general election, coming third with 21.5% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Michael Brotherton and the Liberal candidate.

[9] In 2003, Betts was suspended from the House of Commons for seven days for irregularities involving the employment and visa of Jose Gasparo, a Brazilian student with previous experience as a male escort.

[11] Betts was found guilty of breaching the MPs' code of conduct, with the Standards and Privileges Committee stating that he had acted "extremely foolishly" and had risked damaging public confidence in the integrity of Parliament.

[13] Also in 2003, Betts was subject to criticism for his accommodation expenses after he had previously campaigned for an increase in MPs' entitlements on the ground of "hardship".

[14] Betts denied wrongdoing, arguing the Yorkshire property had been "two dilapidated listed buildings" and that when he became a whip he had to declare his main residence as his London flat.

[15] In 2004, he was criticised by the British Medical Association for going to Portugal with 15 fellow MPs on an all-expenses trip paid for by the fast food chain McDonald's.

[30][31] In November 2024, Betts voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.

[35] He was listed in articles in The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian which criticised the practice of MPs employing family members, on the lines that it promotes nepotism.