Meet Attlee: Chorley MP and Speaker of the House of Commons' Sir Lindsay Hoyle's cat who has more Instagram followers than Dominic Raab and Iain Duncan Smith combined

Attlee, Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s pet cat, has attracted quite a following since he was first introduced to us last summer.

THIS is how Attlee was introduced to us last June

The Maine Coon kitten, who now weighs 1 stone 3lb “and is still growing” has 12,700 followers on his Instagram account, more than Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab, which has a mere 4,281, and former leader of the Tory party, Sir Iain Duncan Smith. Sir Iain can only muster 5,276 followers.

He doesn’t out-do his dad though, under the @commons_speaker handle, Sir Lindsay has 28,500 followers.

"We’ve come to see Attlee”

On the account @attlee_the_speakers_cat_ Attlee shows people around the House of Commons, often seen sprawling on desks, ambling along red carpets and even taking a ride inside a House of Commons-branded jute bag.

He divides his time between Westminster and parliamentary home, Chorley, travelling on the train with Sir Lindsay and his wife.

Speaking at an event at Chorley’s Little Theatre, Sir Lindsay said: “It’s interesting because people come to the office and they’ll say ‘We’ve come to see Attlee’.

He’s also in great demand by fellow MPs, with Lytham-born Stephen Barclay asking for help with mice, as well as the clerk of the Commons, Sir John Benger.

Even though he’s yet to catch any rodents, apparently they know to stay away once he’s been.

Sir Lindsay said: “He ought to go on the payroll at the House of Commons.”

What’s in the name?

Attlee is named after the Labour prime minister from 1945 to 1951, Clement Attlee. He replaces Patrick, a fellow Maine Coon, who was named after Conservative peer Patrick McCormack.

He follows in the paw prints of other parliamentary moggies including the Foreign Office’s Palmerston, Treasury’s Gladstone and Downing Street’s Larry.

Sir Lindsay also has a three-stone tortoise named Maggie (“she’s got a hard shell and she’s not for turning”), a parrot called Boris, and had a nine-stone rotweiller named after former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Train rides

Sir Lindsay spoke of how he transports his animals to London on the train – with the cat in a dog basket, and the parrot in a cat basket.

He said: “People look at us like ‘what’s going on”.

He told the audience that Boris does a good impression of his famous “order, order” line, as well as once having escaped and flown along the carriageway.