Craig Mackinlay, the Conservative MP who had his hands and feet amputated last year due to sepsis, has returned to the Commons chamber for the first time since his illness, receiving a standing ovation from fellow MPs as well as tributes from Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. Mackinlay, the MP for South Thanet, who has said he will stand again for his seat, arrived just before prime minister’s questions. Science and technology questions, which were taking place, paused while MPs stood to applaud him. Mackinlay acknowledged their applause before taking his seat on the Conservative benches. Julia Lopez, the science minister, resumed her answer after saying: “What an appropriate way to walk in on science questions, for the new bionic MP.” Later in PMQs, Mackinlay asked a question, using it to pay tribute to the NHS staff who had treated him, among others, and to seek greater recognition for the early signs of sepsis, which affected him in September. News about Mackinlay’s illness emerged on Tuesday evening. Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection that occurs when the immune system overreacts and starts to damage the body’s own tissues and organs. Mackinlay underwent a quadruple amputation in December, and was fitted with prosthetic legs and hands.
Before PMQs started, Mackinlay received a second round of applause after the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, paid tribute to him. “I’m sure the whole house would like to join me in welcoming back our colleague, our friend and inspirational honourable member for South Thanet,” Hoyle said. “Craig, it’s so good to have you back among us. You are the man of the moment, and I met your daughter, who is going to be the daughter of the moment with her birthday tomorrow. So can I say to you and your family, it is an inspiration to people in this country who have suffered with sepsis. You have shown us the way forward, thank you.” Hoyle added: “And that’s the only reason I allow clapping.” Before he answered his first question, Sunak also had warm words for his backbench colleague, saying he wanted to “add my personal welcome back to parliament”. The prime minister added: “No one who watched his [TV news] interview last night could fail to be in awe at his incredible resilience.” Before asking his first question, Starmer thanked Mackinlay for meeting him privately earlier that day, with his wife and daughter, saying the Commons “genuinely comes together as one … today to pay tribute to your courage and determination in not only coming through an awful ordeal, but by being here today with us in this chamber. “I want to acknowledge your deep sense of service. I think politics is about service, and resuming your duties as an MP, being here today, is an example for all of us of your deep sense of service and we thank you for it.” In his question, at the end of PMQs, Mackinlay thanked Sunak and Hoyle for visiting him regularly in hospital. He joked about the speaker’s slightly funereal official attire, saying: “The rest of the hospital thought I must be dreadfully ill. They said, ‘That guy’s got the funeral director in already.’” Mackinlay said Sunak had “been to see me multiple times”, thanking him as well. He said he wanted to “embed recognition of early signs of sepsis”, and to push for the provision of adequate prosthetics at an early stage.