Chief whip’s web-based way of intimidating unruly MPs

SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT DOWNING Street has Larry the cat; the Foreign Office has rival pussy Palmerston, but Theresa May’s chief whip has taken a different approach – he has a tarantula named Cronus for a pet.

Gavin Williamson keeps the one-year-old spider on his desk in the Whip’s office, where the eight-legged creature regularly terrifies MPs into toeing the party line.

Cronus (named after the Greek god who came to power by castrating his own father before eating his own children to ensure they wouldn’t oust him), was dubbed “a novel take on the little black book” by one Tory MP.

Previous chief whips are said to have stored their subject’s secrets in a black notebook to use against unruly MPs to win government votes. Mr Williamson told “Everyone is obsessed with Palmerston and Larry the cat, but in the Whip’s office we have a proper pet. I’ve had Cronus since he was a spider-ling, so I have a very paternal sort of approach. It’s very much the same sort of love and care that I give to my spider as I give to all MPs.” A number of senior Conservative MPs have expressed their unease at the hairy pet, but the chief whip said he has never had any complaints. “I always point out to people that more people die of falling off horses than are actually killed by tarantulas so it’s very rare,” he added. The spider lives in a glass-sided tank and travels back to Mr Williamson’s constituency during recess. The chief whip added: “Cronus is a perfect example of an incredibly clean, ruthless killer... absolutely fascinating to rear.”