Larry (cat)
Larry is the ten Downing Street cat and is Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. Larry is a brown and white tabby, believed to have been born in January 2007. By July 2016, when Theresa May became Prime Minister, Larry had developed a reputation of being “violent” in his interactions with other local mousers, namely the Foreign Office’s much junior cat Palmerston. [1]
fifteen February 2011
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The Downing Street website describes Larry’s duties as “saluting guests to the house, probing security defences, and testing antique furniture for napping quality”. It also states that Larry is “contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house” and says that he has told Downing Street that such a solution is still in the “tactical planning stage”. [Two]
Unlike his predecessors since 1929, Larry’s upkeep is funded by the staff of ten Downing Street. [Three] Fund-raising events to pay for his food are believed to have included a quiz night for Downing Street staff held in the state rooms. [Four]
Larry is a rescued stray cat from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home who was chosen by Downing Street staff. [Five] Larry was intended to be a pet for the children of David and Samantha Cameron, [6] and was described by Downing Street sources as a “good ratter” and as having “a high chase-drive and hunting instinct”. [7] In 2012, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home exposed that Larry’s popularity had resulted in a surge of 15% more people adopting cats. [8]
Soon after he was taken in at Downing Street, a story ran in the press claiming that Larry was a lost cat and that the original holder had embarked a campaign to retrieve him. [9] [Ten] However, the story was later exposed to be a hoax, and no such proprietor nor campaign existed. [11]
Within a month of his arrival at Downing Street, anonymous sources described Larry as having “a distinct lack of killer instinct.” [12] Larry made his very first kill – a mouse – on twenty two April 2011. [13] Later that year was exposed that Larry was spending more time sleeping than hunting for mice, and spending time in the company of a female cat, Maisie. [14] At one point in 2011, mice were so endemic in Downing Street that the Prime Minister resorted to throwing a fork at a mouse during a Cabinet dinner. [14] On twenty eight August two thousand twelve Larry made his very first killing of a mouse in public, ripping off the creature on the lawn in front of Number Ten. [15]
In 2012, Larry was reported to have been sacked and substituted by George Osborne’s cat Freya. [16] Larry collective the role of Chief Mouser with Freya until her departure from Downing Street in 2014.
In October 2013, Larry caught four mice in two weeks and one staff member had rescued a mouse from Larry’s clutches. [17]
In July 2015, George Osborne and Cabinet Office Minister Matthew Hancock cornered a mouse in the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s office, trapping it in a brown paper sandwich bag. The press joked that the Chancellor of the Exchequer might take over the Chief Mouser position. [Eighteen]
David Cameron explained during his final Prime Minister’s Questions in two thousand sixteen that Larry is a civil servant and not private property, so would not leave Downing Street after a switch of premier. [Nineteen] The Labour Party has confirmed that in the event a Labour government, Larry would remain as Chief Mouser. [20]
David Cameron has said that Larry is a “bit jumpy” around dudes, speculating that, since Larry was a rescue cat, this may be due to negative practices in his past. Cameron mentioned that Barack Obama is an apparent exception to this fear: he said, “Funnily enough he liked Obama. Obama gave him a stroke and he was all right with Obama.” [21]
In September 2013, tensions were reportedly growing inbetween Cameron and Larry. [22] It was reported that Cameron objected to cat hair on his suit, and the smell of cat food had to be disguised by air freshener when Downing Street had visitors. The Camerons were said not to like Larry, amid suggestions that the pet was a public relations prop. Cameron posted to Twitter telling that he and Larry got on “purr-fectly well”. [22] Nevertheless, bookmakers Ladbrokes made Cameron the odds-on (1/Two) favourite to leave Downing Street very first, with Larry as the 6/Four outsider. The Daily Telegraph suggested that Cameron never truly liked cats but that spin doctors believed Larry could make the PM emerge more friendly. [23] When leaving office in 2016, Cameron spoke of his “sadness” that he could not take Larry with him. [24] [25] When Theresa May became Prime Minister in 2016, there were concerns that Larry was stressed and could be missing the Cameron family. [26]
In August 2016, Tormentor Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, responded to controversy over favoritism in Cameron’s Dissolution Honours List by joking that he was “astonished Larry the cat didn’t get one”. [27]
In June 2012, George Osborne was reunited with his long lost cat Freya, [28] [29] who moved into eleven Downing Street. Freya and Larry were reported to have rapidly established cordial relations, [28] albeit the two cats had been seen fighting. [30] Freya was reported to be the more superior cat and more effective mouser, reportedly because her days as a stray had “hardened” her. [31] In November 2014, Freya left Downing Street, leaving Larry with the foot mousing responsibility. [32]
In 2014, Osborne brought in a pet dog, Lola. Aides announced that Lola got on well with both Larry and Freya. [33]
In April 2016, a fresh feline neighbour, Palmerston, moved into the Foreign Office. [34] The two cats fought on numerous occasions. [26] The Leader of the House commented that he hoped that Palmerston and Larry would establish a “modus vivendi”. [35] In July of that year, Palmerston entered Number ten and had to be forcibly evicted by security staff. [36] In September 2016, Lord Blencathra, submitted a question in the House of Lords of why the government did not pay for Larry’s veterinary bill for an injury picked up in a fight against Palmerston, and whether the government would refund civil servants who paid for Larry’s care. [37] Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen, the government’s spokesman in the Lords, said: “The costs were met by staff through voluntary staff donations due to their affection for Larry.”
On one August 2016, according to the political photographer, Steve Beck, Larry had his “most brutal fight yet” with Palmerston on the steps of Number Ten. [38] During the fight Larry lost his dog collar, whilst Palmerston suffered from several deep scrapes and a badly cut ear. [38]
In August 2016, it emerged the Cabinet Office were considering also appointing another Chief Mouser to deal with their mouse problem. The Chief Whip, Gavin Williamson, said that the cat would be called Cromwell. [36]
In 2011, Larry was banned from the Prime Minister’s quarters in ten Downing Street as his wool was ruining the Prime Minister’s fresh suits. [39]
Former deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has described an internal Downing Street security door which requires microphone contact for access as being increasingly “not for security, but to keep the cats out from one end of the building to another”. [40] In February 2013, a cat-proof barrier was erected to prevent Larry and his neighbour Freya from getting into the Foreign Office, after complaints from staff members with allergies. [41] William Hague later asked that the barrier be taken down. [41]
In December two thousand fifteen former Home Secretary David Blunkett suggested that Larry should be asked to increase his responsibilities to include the Palace of Westminster, which at the time was being overrun by rodents. [42]
Larry was honoured with a blue plaque at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in October 2012. [43]
A book, written in character as Larry, Larry Diaries: Downing Street – the Very first one hundred Days by former Guardian journalist James Robinson was published in 2011. [8] A picture gallery to feast Larry’s very first two years in office was produced by The Daily Telegraph. [44]
In 2012, Larry was visible on the Google Street View of Number Ten, asleep next to the door. [45]
Larry’s exploits and observations on life at Number ten became the subject of a weekly cartoon in The Sunday Express drawn by cartoonist Ted Harrison.