As if Larry the No 10 mouser hasn’t got enough on his food bowl dealing with a ferocious feline from the Foreign Office, there is now a new cat on the block.
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Like his predecessors, Gladstone’s official job is that of mousecatcher, but he arguably plays just as important a role as a cuddly PR emblem for an otherwise austere government department.
The third Battersea cat has made its way to office in Westminster as the Treasury welcomed Gladstone as its chief mouser.
Relations between Larry and Palmerston are rumoured to have been strained, and there was speculation that Larry’s recent trip to the vet was the result of one of their run-ins.
Gladstone the cat will join longtime government employee Larry and fellow new addition Palmerston in defending Britain’s government offices from mice.
Treasury staff appeared to show awareness of the possibility of a scuffle as Gladstone was photographed inside his carrier on his first day in the building.
Chancellor Philip Hammond, who worked alongside Palmerston as foreign secretary before taking up his new post, tweeted: ” Looks like I’m not the only new arrival @hmtreasury – welcome Gladstone!” “Personally, I’ve never heard of him”, the caption read.
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A Treasury spokeswoman told the Guardian that a colleague delegated to handle Gladstone-related calls would ring back.
