Jacob Rees-Mogg has said bottoms-up to an East Midlands distillery and helped stock its gin in the House of Commons.
Measures of Ruddy Fine Gin, made in Ruddington on the Leicestershire/Notts, are being served in the Strangers Bar, thanks in part to the prominent front bencher and Brexit Minister.
After visiting Westminster, distillery founder Rory Thorpe told BusinessLive: “For all the criticism he gets he was actually the most charming man.
“He could only stop for five minutes and didn’t have a drink but said we should be proud of ourselves and told us our gin is really amazing.”
Mr Thorpe – who runs Blue Monday Events – launched the gin company with his landscape gardener partner Cheryl Stretton just before the pandemic and were able to put more time into it during lockdown.
Since then they have come up with five different flavours and produced 5,000 bottles, which sell for around £35 each.
Mr Thorpe said: “When Rushcliffe MP Ruth Edwards visited our distillery last year we cheekily asked if she could get our gin into the House of Commons, in honesty we had no expectation that it would happen.
“At the time she said it was certainly worth a go and after a very pleasant visit talking all things gin and bees (her husband is a fellow beekeeper) she left, distillery life carried on and we assumed it had all been forgotten.
“Then out of the blue a few weeks ago we received an e-mail link from her office showing Ruth in the House of Commons putting the question to the then Leader of the House Jacob Rees-Mogg, requesting his assistance in getting our delicious Ruddy Fine Gin into the estate.
“After stating that he was “all in favour of Ruddy Fine Gin” and no doubt a great deal of wrangling behind the scenes, we were invited to the Strangers Bar at the House of Commons to celebrate our Ruddy Fine Gin being made available to MP’s from all parties to enjoy in their downtime.
“From humble beginnings with Cheryl & I making Gin as a hobby, in our kitchen in Ruddington, Ruddy Fine Gin has now become the first guest gin in history to be served in the House of Commons and we could not be more proud.
“Huge thanks to Ruth Edwards and her team for all their assistance in making this happen and giving us such an amazing day and we hope very much that our gin is enjoyed by MPs from all over the country.
“What a great way to showcase just one of the fantastic artisan products the Midlands has to offer.”
