Tipple that was Betty’s tonic

BRITAIN’S first woman Speaker, the late Betty Boothroyd, used to become exasperated by drawn-out meetings at the House of Commons Commission, which she chaired. Sir Malcolm Jack, Clerk of the Commons between 2006-11, reveals: ‘After such a session, once the room was cleared, she pointed at a hidden drinks cabinet. I knew my duty as secretary to the commission and, reaching for the gin bottle inside, I prepared a strong gin and tonic for her and one for me.’