On this date in 1995, 10 Downing Street cat Humphrey, who’d been missing and feared dead since July turned up alive and well. Following on from Dogs in politics the other day, here are some facts about Cats in politics.
.jpg)
Possibly the most famous cat in politics is Larry the Cat (pictured above), who is the current incumbent of the role previously held by the aforementioned Humphrey: that of Mouser in Chief at Ten Downing Street. Larry is possibly also the most stable figure in UK politics, having outlasted 6 prime ministers since 2011, and counting. Larry is a rescue cat, selected by David Cameron from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home to deal with a reported Rat problem in Downing Street. I refrain from comment.
11 Downing Street, traditional home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has also been on occasion, home to a cat, as is the Foreign Office. The latter’s cat, Palmerston, and Larry famously don’t get on and there have been reports of as many cat fights between them as in the Commons itself.
Cats as mousers in UK government date back to Henry VIII’s time when Cardinal Thomas Wolsey had his cat by his side while acting in his judicial capacity as Lord Chancellor. Actual records about them date back to 1929 when A.E. Banham at the Treasury authorised the Office Keeper "to spend 1d a day from petty cash towards the maintenance of an efficient cat". Today, a government mouser costs over £100 a year.
Winston Churchill adopted a stray cat called Nelson, which impressed him by taking on a huge dog. Sir Winston is reported to have said: "Nelson is the bravest cat I ever knew. I decided to adopt him and name him after our great Admiral." When he became PM, there was actually a crisis of protocol because there was already a cat in residence at Number 10 which had belonged to his predecessor, nicknamed "The Munich Mouser". The latter was chased away by Nelson, who became not only the chief mouser, but Churchill’s official lap warmer. According to Churchill, Nelson "was doing more than he was for the war effort, since Nelson served as a prime ministerial hot water bottle".
The cat with the longest known tenure at Downing Street is Peter III, who served for over 16 years under five different prime ministers: Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold MacMillan and Alec Douglas-Home.
Humphrey was John Major's Chief Mouser from 1989 until 1997, when he was removed from Downing Street amid claims that Tony Blair's wife Cherie wanted him out.
Like Dogs, cats have been elected mayors. The Somerville Community Path in Massachusetts had Minerva, who beat over 70 other animal candidates to the position in 2025. Stubbs was elected mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska in 1997 and was succeeded in 2017 by Aurora, also a cat. In Xalapa, Mexico: A famous black-and-white feline named Morris ran for mayor. His highly successful campaign slogan translated to, "Tired of voting for rats? Vote for a cat!”
Also like dogs, cats are sometimes presidential pets, including President Bill Clinton's cat, Socks, and President Joe Biden's tabby, Willow. As previously mentioned, the current president of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, owns two.
Ravi, resident cat at the Pennsylvania State Capitol, Ravi "works" in Representative Jessica Benham's office, complete with tiny furniture, and even attends legislative hearings.
In Canada in 1924, cats were brought in to deal with a rat problem in Parliament. However, they had too many kittens so were banished outside. The result was the Parliament Hill cat colony. The cats were cared for by volunteers funded by donations, although by 2013, all the cats had been adopted and the colony closed.
No comments:
Post a Comment