David Cameron is facing one final challenge to his decisions while Prime Minister in the form of Larry the cat.
Advertisement
A government spokesperson told the BBC that, in fact, “It’s a civil servant’s cat and does not belong to the Camerons – he will be staying”.
After losing the referendum on European Union membership, Cameron announced he would step down as prime minister, however no successor from the victorious pro-leave camp of the Conservative Party managed to mount a successful challenge.
He’s very much the Downing Street cat, not the Camerons’ personal cat.
Larry, who was said to have a “strong predatory drive”, was brought in to Downing Street from London’s Battersea Cats and Dogs Home by Cameron in 2011 after a large black rat was seen near the Cabinet Office on a live television broadcast.
He was the first cat to hold the appointment since Humphrey – who was adopted in 1989 after wandering in to No 10 as a stray during Margaret Thatcher’s premiership – was retired in 1997.
David Cameron welcomed the cat’s arrival, and said he would make a “great addition” to the Number 10 team.
The famous tabby is bizarrely known by the grand title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.
One particularly catty clash has been recorded for posterity, however – between two Westminster heavyweights from Downing Street and the Foreign Office.
Advertisement
The unofficial Twitter accounts of Larry and his Whitehall counterpart Palmerston, the diplo-cat, sometimes appears to show a rivalry between the two mousers.
