Feline good: Sir Lindsay Hoyle reveals pet cat helps to keep him calm under pressure

Forget the stress ball, the screen break and muting your boss on Zoom, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons Speaker, has revealed his cat is what helps him keep calm in the office."I find nothing more relaxing than having Patrick, my cat, sitting with me while I listen to some music – he certainly helps my blood pressure," the Speaker said as he urged staff in parliament to open up about their mental health.

Between Brexit and coronavirus, Westminster has not been the most restful place to work over the past couple of years. An online "mental health festival" has been launched for parliamentary employees in conjunction with the charity Mind, featuring mindfulness sessions, to positivity webinars and coffee break talks.Sir Lindsay Hoyle said the event was "the perfect excuse to think about how we look after ourselves and our colleagues in these strange times" and that he hoped staff felt "safe and encouraged to share their experiences – if they want to"."After all, we all have some experiences of mental health problems – either personally or because we know someone who is struggling," added Sir Lindsay, who recently launched a new onsite NHS GP service for staff.The Speaker said he tried to give himself some downtime during his busy schedule – and was lucky to have the company of at least two of his pets with him at work. His full menagerie includes Boris the parrot, Maggie the tortoise, a cat called Dennis and Gordon the Rottweiler, but we expect they wouldn't all fit in his lap on the Speaker's chair.