Should Larry the cat be worried by Starmer’s new kitten?

Keir Starmer may not have won over business yet, but he’s at least managed a compromise within his own household, with the Prime Minister announcing the addition of a new kitten to 10 Downing Street following a summer of negotiations with his children (a German Shepherd had initially been demanded).

The Siberian kitten – who is already causing problems due to the difficulty of installing a cat flap into the Starmers’ bomb-proof door – joins a long lineage of parliamentarian pets. Most notable, of course: British domestic tabby Larry, who moved into Downing Street in 2011 under David Cameron and has served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office under six premierships since. 

But Larry has not always taken well to newcomers. In 2012, the tabby was briefly usurped as Chief Mouser by George Osborne’s cat Freya, who proved a more industrious rodent-killer, reportedly because her time as a stray had “toughened” her. A fight between the pair outside Number 10 had to be broken up by police later that year. The prime minister’s spokeswoman at the time said that Freya and Larry were able to “co-exist” but refused to comment further on the pair’s relationship.

It is yet to be announced whether the Starmer kitten will take on any formal duties, though a statement from the resident Mouser made clear the pecking order: “The kitten will REPORT to Larry the Cat,” Larry wrote on X, where he has 903,000 followers (more than triple the Chancellor).

The news follows reports last year that Larry, now 17,was in ill health and that Downing Street had been making preparations for his death. Government has denied the reports.