Matt Hancock made his Commons comeback - with a debate on horses.
The Tory MP for West Suffolk called on the House to “safeguard and cherish” the national treasure of horse racing and prevent it from falling behind in the post-pandemic world.
Mr Hancock had been laying low after quitting his post as Health Secretary in the aftermath of his extramarital affair with an aide being exposed.
Reports claimed he had also been advised to quit the Commons.
But the horse racing enthusiast led a 30-minute Commons adjournment debate on "horse racing's contribution to the economy”.
With more vigour than usual, Mr Hancock told the Commons he was grateful to see two ministers from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport attend his debate.
He said it proved “horse racing is the sport of kings and is loved across the land”.
“We must safeguard and cherish this national treasure," Mr Hancock said in his opening statement.
“We must not allow horse racing to fall behind in Britain as like many industries, of course, that racing has been hit, significantly by the pandemic.”
Mr Hancock called on minister to fix "loopholes" in the Horse Racing Betting levy by applying it to all racing globally bet on by British customers.
Jim Shannon, DUP MP for Strangford said he was delighted to see Mr Hancock working on the backbenches but raised the issue of gambling.
Mr Hancock acknowledged problem gambling must be tackled but argued “gambling, especially gambling in person at a resort, is a much safer proposition than some of the online and more electronic modern offers”.
Chris Philp, the new minister for gambling told the Commons: "It serves our national interest to have a vibrant racing industry."
The 42-year-old MP was caught kissing Gina Coladangelo, 44, on CCTV in his office on May 6, with the footage published 10 days later.
His debate comes weeks after he was laughed at during his return to the Commons for the first time since resigning.
As he rose to speak, he was met with boos, laughing and general heckling.
