In turbulent political times, stability at Britain’s seat of government has taken on whiskers and a familiar routine. Larry, the gray-and-white tabby who serves as the British government’s official rodent-catcher and its unofficial “first feline,” will celebrate 15 years on Sunday at 10 Downing St. Having started his Downing Street life in 2011, he has been a constant through the arrival of six prime ministers, with his presence at the black door and around the famous entrance routinely drawing attention from photographers.
The government’s own description of Larry’s role frames him less as a symbolic mascot than as a functioning part of the Downing Street setting. A profile on the U.K. government website says his duties include “greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defenses and testing antique furniture for napping quality.” Larry roams freely through the premises, and his habit of intercepting the moment visitors expect to pose has become part of the timing of public appearances at No. 10.
Philip Howell, a Cambridge University professor who has studied the history of human-animal relations, said Larry’s presence resonates beyond the confines of the household. “Larry the cat’s approval ratings will be very high,” Howell said, adding that prime ministers “tend not to hit those numbers.” He said the cat “represents stability, and that’s at a premium,” characterizing the unofficial role as a reassuring continuity in a setting that changes with each new political era.
Larry’s story begins far from London’s corridors of power. He was adopted from London’s Battersea Dogs and Cats Home by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, according to the AP story, and he entered Downing Street on Feb. 15, 2011. Although official titles at No. 10 run through the machinery of government, Larry carries the name Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, underscoring that his presence is tied to an enduring domestic function as well as to public spectacle.
Downing Street’s regular rhythms have also shaped how photographers and visitors experience him. Justin Ng, a freelance photographer who said he has come to know Larry well over the years, described the cat’s instinct for timing. “He’s great at photo-bombing,” Ng said, adding that when a foreign leader is about to visit, “we know he’ll just come out at the exact moment that meet-and-greet is about to happen.” Ng said Larry is “more of a lover than a fighter,” and described him as effective at his job while keeping a nonchalant presence.
His behavior toward people can be selective, and the AP story says it has been observed that he is largely unfriendly to men, while also noting that he took a liking to former U.S. President Barack Obama. It also says Larry drew a smile from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to London, while U.S. President Donald Trump’s 2019 appearance included Larry crashing the official doorstep photo before taking a nap under the president’s armored car, the Beast.
Even the “rodent-catcher” label has variations. The AP story says reports of Larry’s effectiveness differ, though he has been photographed snagging the occasional mouse and, once, a pigeon that escaped. Larry has also shared space—sometimes uneasily—with other prime ministerial pets from previous tenures, including Boris Johnson’s Jack Russell cross Dilyn and Rishi Sunak’s Labrador retriever Nova, while the story says he is kept well away from current Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s family cats, JoJo and Prince.
Larry’s time at No. 10 also includes a notable neighborhood rivalry across government offices. The AP story says he had a volatile relationship with Palmerston, the diplomatic top cat at the Foreign Office across the street from No. 10, and that the pair were caught tussling several times before Palmerston retired in 2020. Palmerston later died this month in Bermuda, where he had been serving as a “feline relations consultant” to the governor, the AP story said.
Now in his later years—reported as 18 or 19—the cat is described as having slowed down, though the story says he continues to patrol his turf and sleep on a window ledge above a radiator just inside the No. 10 door. Howell said Larry’s status as an “official pet” helps set him apart from the American tradition of presidential pets, and he tied that nonpartisan positioning to political messaging. “The fact that cats are less tractable is part of the charm, too,” Howell said, describing a feline who “won’t necessarily sit where you want him to sit” or pose on command, and said the resulting unruliness would likely endear him to Brits.
Howell also argued that removing Larry would be risky for any prime minister who views the role differently. “A cat-hating PM, that seems to me to be political suicide,” he said. The AP story also quoted his view that while Larry is “whimsically not partisan in a political sense,” he can be drawn to “some people and not to others,” a temperament that, in turn, keeps him central to the day-to-day optics of 10 Downing St. even as his days grow calmer.