Britain’s most famous feline, Larry the cat, celebrates 15 years as the official chief mouser at 10 Downing Street, having served under six prime ministers.
LONDON: LARRY the cat marks 15 years on Sunday as the United Kingdom’s chief mouser, patrolling the corridors of power around 10 Downing Street.
Recruited to deal with a rodent problem, he arrived at the prime minister’s official residence on February 15, 2011. He was adopted from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home when believed to be about four years old, during David Cameron’s premiership.
The white and tabby cat has since lived through six prime ministers, from Cameron to Keir Starmer. He has weathered the storms of Brexit, Covid-19, the chaos of “partygate,” Liz Truss’s 49-day tenure, and the more orderly months under Rishi Sunak.
Officially titled “Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office,” his biography states he spends his days “greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality.” A media darling, Larry often steals the spotlight from visiting foreign leaders.
He greeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in December. In January, he sent a photographer stumbling on a red carpet after darting between his legs during a visit by Poland’s president.
A whiskered influencer, Larry boasts an X account @Number10cat followed by more than 877,500 fans. Run anonymously, the account sees Larry grumble about the weather and occasionally take swipes at politicians.
His first months “in office” even inspired a 2011 book, “The Larry Diaries”. Larry now shares the No. 10 residence with the Starmer family cats, JoJo and Prince.
Prince, a Siberian, joined after “negotiations” with Starmer’s children, who had wanted a German Shepherd. Starmer told the BBC in 2024 that installing a cat flap was difficult because “the only door out of our new flat is bomb proof.”
Larry is considered a permanent civil servant, meaning he gets to stay at Downing Street for good. He is not alone as a feline companion to politicians.
On Saturday came news that Palmerston, a former mouser to the Foreign Office, had passed away in Bermuda. “Farewell old friend x,” Larry posted on X, brushing aside rumours of rivalry.
Under former US president Bill Clinton, the cat Socks resided in the White House from 1993 to 2001. In Belgium, a rescue cat named Maximus is the bewhiskered sidekick of Prime Minister Bart De Wever.
