Windsor MP defends accepting Ascot Racecourse hospitality tickets ahead of gambling debate in Parliament

Windsor’s MP accepted free tickets from Ascot Racecourse worth hundreds of pounds – just five days before ‘championing’ the racecourse in a parliamentary debate on gambling.

Ascot racecourse gifted Jack Rankin three tickets in a hospitality box – worth £675 in total – on October 19 last year. The Conservative MP went on to ‘champion’ Ascot and Royal Windsor racecourses in a debate on the horse-racing industry on October 24 – warning against tighter gambling laws.

Mr Rankin then also accepted two free tickets plus hospitality to Royal Windsor racecourse, worth £312, on January 8.

He told the LDRS he is ‘so proud’ to represent both racecourses as they are ‘massive employers’ in the Windsor constituency. He said accepting their gifts was ‘entirely appropriate’.

Mr Rankin said: “As an active, local and vocal member of parliament, it is my job to engage with, visit and represent our fantastic racecourses in parliament. I will never be shy of doing my job, which is what my constituents expect.”

Mr Rankin accepted the free tickets to a private box at the QIPCA British Champions day at Ascot on October 19. The racecourse’s website shows private box tickets start at £209 per head and include a private bar and two course meal.

An Ascot Racecourse spokesperson said his visit was ‘an opportunity for us to engage with him and explain the impact that the racecourse has on the local economy’.

Five days later Mr Rankin praised Ascot and Royal Windsor racecourses in a debate on ‘government support for the horseracing industry’ in parliament.

He said the ‘economic importance’ of the annual Royal Ascot week ‘cannot be understated’.

In the same speech he then warned that introducing further affordability checks, which require bookmakers to make sure their customers can afford to place their bets, could mean ‘less money would be invested in the sport’.

Mr Rankin told the LDRS increased affordability checks ‘could quite simply be catastrophic for my constituents and the Windsor constituency’s economy’.

He added: “That is why I became an officer on the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Racing and Bloodstock, and why it is entirely appropriate to accept invitations to attend events at both local racecourses – as I try to do for all invites I receive from a range of organisations, businesses, charities, and community groups I engage with across the Windsor constituency.”

Mr Rankin said he had had ‘multiple conversations with Ascot Racecourse on the vitality of British horseracing’. He added he had also spoken with Royal Windsor racecourse on local development ‘particularly hotel accommodation’.

A spokesperson for Arena Racing Company, which owns Royal Windsor, did not say why it offered Mr Rankin free tickets, or whether these were in exchange for his support in parliament.

The spokesperson said: “We remain incredibly grateful that, as the local MP, Mr Rankin was able to spare his valuable time to attend the event and once again demonstrate his support for both the Racecourse and British racing more generally.”