MATT Hancock today returned to the political fray for the first time since quitting the Cabinet for his lockdown-busting affair.
The ex-Health Secretary joined colleagues cutting short their summer hols to come to Parliament for an emergency debate on Afghanistan.
After eight years as a minister under three Tory governments, the MP for West Suffolk returned to the backbenches sitting three rows behind old boss Boris Johnson.
Mr Hancock – who like many MPs was not wearing a mask despite being urged to – had not spoken after three hours of debate in a packed chamber.
Mr Hancock was forced to resign in June after Trending In The News exposed his affair with top aide Gina Colangelo that broke social distancing rules.
The couple were filmed locked in a steamy clinch in the then minister’s Department for Health office.
In a resignation video the dad-of-three said: “Those of us who make these rules have got to stick by them, and that’s why I’ve got to resign.”
Although this is the first time Mr Hancock has publicly broken cover for almost two months, he was seen enjoying a seaside retreat to Cornwall.
Locals seemed to give the body-boarding ex-minister a friendly reception and posed with him for selfies.
Mr Hancock faced a battle to cling on as an MP after constituents demanded he resign the safe Tory seat.
In the wake of his resignation local party activists raged that he intended to stay in Parliament – but deselection efforts have since cooled.
