He’s on his sixth prime minister, has watched presidents and princes walk through the black door of No 10, and will soon become the longest continuous resident of Downing Street since Pitt the Younger.
The landscape of British politics has changed a lot in the past 15 years, but Larry the cat has remained a reassuring constant. Now his enduring popularity – the like of which some of his temporary owners would kill for – is to feature in a new Channel 4 documentary series exploring Britain’s love of cats. For his fans, the spotlight has been a long time coming.
“Larry’s totally the guy to meet in No 10,” one Westminster source said, adding that – as police officers stationed outside the entry of No 10 who regularly open the door for him will attest – he “has the run of the house”.
Larry, whose official title is chief mouser of the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street, slunk into the heart of the UK government after being adopted from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home to address a rodent problem.
His is a rats to riches story to put any schmaltzy political biography to shame. Found as a stray in Wandsworth, he arrived in Westminster in 2011 with David Cameron and Nick Clegg’s coalition government in its infancy.
If tensions were high between the unlikely governmental bedfellows, Cameron was keen to dispel any animosity between him and the nation’s new favourite feline. “The rumour is I don’t love Larry – I do,” he declared at one PMQs.
View image in fullscreen Larry being introduced to Barack Obama in 2011 as David Cameron looks on. Photograph: White House Photo/Alamy
A more established figure now than he was back then, Larry seems to have adjusted to the glare of the spotlight. Often spotted on live broadcasts waiting patiently by the front door, his relaxed demeanour in front of a watching audience has become a nuisance to the the Downing Street gardener – Larry often visits the front flower patch to do his business.
His official government page describes the 18-year-old tabby as spending “his days greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality” and lists his day-to-day responsibilities as “contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house”.
Although he is the first cat to hold his specific title, cats had been welcomed into the corridors of power for at least a century, explained Philip Howell, a professor of geography at the University of Cambridge, who has written extensively about the human-animal relationship. “Stability is an essential part of Larry’s appeal,” he said.
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