Moments after Prime Minister Boris Johnson left Downing Street for the last time on Tuesday, a familiar brown-and-white tabby slipped out of the black lacquered door No 10 and sat serenely on the doorstep.
Larry the Cat is asserting his status in Downing Street, as the new prime minister – his fourth – is set to move to one of the world’s most famous addresses.
A cat symbol of continuity, Larry will greet the house’s next occupant, Liz Truss, when she arrives on Tuesday afternoon, much like Mr Johnson and his predecessor, Theresa May, when they arrived. resident.
The cat was brought in by Downing Street staff in 2012 as a stray rescuer to pet Prime Minister David Cameron’s children. In the following years, he was given the honorary title of chief of staff to the Cabinet Office, a position he held with varying results, depending on who passed the ruling.
During his farewell, Mr Johnson spoke loudly to Larry, noting that he had moved past his initial amicable relationship with the Johnson family dog, Dilyn, which was the latest of many. the rift he had with the cats and dogs of the Downing Street complex. Larry, is a number worth emulating, he said.
Mr Johnson declared: “If Dilyn and Larry can make the difference at times, so can the Conservatives.”
In the last few years, Larry’s travels and returns have been an important means of communication for the news cameras outside Downing Street. He has become a social media presence, with his own Twitter account that the posts occasionally made cryptic comments about the rotating prime ministers occupying the house.
It’s time to clarify a few things:
1. I’m not “Boris Johnson’s cat”
2. Like all Prime Ministers, he is only a temporary resident of Downing Street
3. I live here forever. When he finally left, I stayed
4. Yes, it’s all embarrassing but it’ll be over soon– Larry the Cat (@ Number10cat) July 7, 2022
Larry is part of a long tradition of keeping cats in the British government. For centuries, cat helpers have dealt with rodent problems in the halls of power, though it wasn’t until the late 1920s that records of payments for their maintenance began to begin. , as the Ministry of the Interior released. ask for a penny a day for cat food.
In 2019, under President Donald J. Trump visit the UKLarry appeared in the picture, then began the proceedings by taking a nap underneath the president’s car – a $1.5 million armored Cadillac called the Beast. A year later, as Britain awaited an update on a post-Brexit trade deal, he stole the show by embark on an ambitious (and failed) attack on a distracted pigeon.
Like everyone else at number 10, Larry has not escaped criticism for his performance. The British tabloids called him “Larry is lazy,” when Downing Street officials had to call for pest control to supplement his efforts. I also develop an antagonistic relationship with the State Department’s own proponent, Palmerston, who quit one’s job.
Larry even entered the race for leadership of the Conservative Party. During a campaign event in August, Ms. Truss, the British Foreign Secretary, noted that she had an “extremely positive” relationship to Larry, saying, “He comes to me often. I think I’m one of his favorite cabinet ministers.”
Perhaps sensing Larry’s popularity, Ms. Truss has suggested that the cat’s whereabouts in Downing Street be secured. While campaigning in the summer, she told a child “Larry is a beautiful cat”, when he suggested that the cat, not Ms Truss, would succeed Mr Johnson as prime minister.
