Last night, Red Lion staff told Guido of early plans to capitalise on the much-reported love of partying in Whitehall: they are strongly considering extending their opening hours to midnight on certain days of the week, and opening up their downstairs function area – the ‘Cabinet Room’ – more permanently. Quite a turnaround from the fears of closure due to the restoration and renewal project just a couple of years ago…

Although they lack the staff to extend opening hours every night, the provisional plan is to keep the drinks flowing on Thursdays at the very least – although if thirsty politicos have strong feelings about other days of the week, this may change. The hope is to keep punters drinking without the itch to trot off to Players later in the evening.

The most popular idea at the moment for the Cabinet Room is a regular karaoke night, which would no doubt go down well with the Tory faithful. Installing a jukebox is also a possibility. Prime opportunity to take the last few clientele away from Sports & Social (which is currently closed)…