Purr-manent resident: Larry the cat marks 15 years at Downing Street as Britain’s political top cat

In a political landscape often defined by upheaval and leadership churn, one resident of 10 Downing Street has remained a constant. Larry, the British government’s official Chief Mouser, marked 15 years in the role on Sunday, becoming one of the most enduring figures associated with the prime minister’s residence.
First adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, the gray-and-white tabby arrived at Downing Street on Feb. 15, 2011. Since then, Larry has served under six prime ministers, earning a reputation as both a symbol of continuity and an unofficial mascot of British politics.

“In turbulent political times, stability comes with four legs, whiskers and a fondness for napping,” said Philip Howell, a Cambridge University professor who has studied the history of human-animal relations. “Larry the cat’s approval ratings will be very high,” Howell added. “And prime ministers tend not to hit those numbers. He represents stability, and that’s at a premium.”

Larry’s official responsibilities, according to his government profile, include “greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defenses and testing antique furniture for napping quality.” In practice, his presence has often extended beyond ceremonial duties. The cat has become a familiar sight for photographers gathered outside Downing Street, frequently appearing at moments that coincide with high-profile political arrivals.

“He’s great at photo-bombing,” said freelance photographer Justin Ng, who has covered Downing Street for years. “If there’s a foreign leader that’s about to visit then we know he’ll just come out at the exact moment that meet-and-greet is about to happen.”

Over the years, Larry has encountered a succession of world leaders, sometimes forcing visiting dignitaries to navigate around him on the famous black doorstep. Observers have noted that while he can be selective in his affections — reportedly less friendly toward men — he appeared comfortable around former U.S. President Barack Obama and drew a smile from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during one of his visits.
During Donald Trump’s 2019 visit to London, Larry famously wandered into the official photo opportunity before settling down beneath the presidential limousine known as “The Beast.”

Despite his official title, assessments of Larry’s rodent-catching abilities have varied. He has occasionally been photographed catching mice and once attempted to capture a pigeon, which escaped. Ng described the cat’s appeal differently. “He’s more of a lover than a fighter,” he said. “He’s very good at what he does: lounging around and basically showing people that he’s very nonchalant.”

Life at Downing Street has also included rivalries and uneasy coexistence with other political pets. Larry shared space with Boris Johnson’s Jack Russell cross Dilyn and Rishi Sunak’s Labrador Nova. Under current Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Larry remains confined to the working areas, while the Starmer family’s cats, JoJo and Prince, stay in the private residential quarters.

Perhaps his most notable rivalry was with Palmerston, the Foreign Office’s resident cat across the street. The two were repeatedly photographed fighting before Palmerston retired in 2020. Palmerston died earlier this month in Bermuda, where he had taken on the honorary role of “feline relations consultant” to the governor.

Now believed to be 18 or 19 years old, Larry has slowed with age but continues to patrol Downing Street and spend long stretches resting on a window ledge above a radiator near the entrance — a familiar sight for visitors and staff alike.

For many observers, Larry’s enduring popularity reflects something deeper in British political culture. Howell argues that the cat occupies a unique space as a nonpartisan presence in a highly partisan environment.

“A cat-hating PM, that seems to me to be political suicide,” Howell said.

Unlike American presidential pets, which are often seen as extensions of political image-making, Larry’s appeal lies partly in his independence. “The fact that cats are less tractable is part of the charm, too,” Howell said. “He’s sort of whimsically not partisan in a political sense, but he tends to take to some people and not to others and he won’t necessarily sit where you want him to sit and pose where you want him to pose.

“There is a certain kind of unruliness about Larry which I think would endear him, certainly, to Brits.”