Larry the cat, the nation’s official rodent-catcher and unofficial first feline, celebrates 15 years of service this Sunday, having provided a reassuring constant under six prime ministers. Some might suggest the prime ministers have served under him.
Adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home by then-prime minister David Cameron, Larry made his debut on 15 February 2011. His official duties, as outlined on the UK government website, encompass “greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality”.
The grey-and-white tabby enjoys free rein, often seizing the opportunity to upstage world leaders as they arrive at Downing Street’s iconic black door. He has encountered numerous global figures, including Barack Obama, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Donald Trump, whose 2019 visit saw Larry nap beneath the presidential armoured car, “The Beast”.
Larry has shared his residence with various prime ministerial pets, including Boris Johnson’s Jack Russell cross Dilyn and Rishi Sunak’s labrador retriever, Nova. He is kept separate from current Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s family cats, JoJo and Prince, who reside in the private quarters. He also maintained a famously volatile rivalry with Palmerston, the diplomatic top cat at the Foreign Office, who passed away this month in Bermuda.
Now aged 18 or 19, Larry has slowed somewhat but continues to patrol his territory and nap on a window ledge just inside the No. 10 door. “Larry the cat’s approval ratings will be very high,” noted Philip Howell, a Cambridge University professor. “And prime ministers tend not to hit those numbers. He represents stability, and that’s at a premium.”
