Larry (cat)

Larry is a cat who has served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom at 10 Downing Street since 2011. He is a brown-and-white tabby, believed to have been born in January 2007. By July 2016, when Theresa May became prime minister, he had developed a reputation of being "violent" in his interactions with other local mousers, especially the Foreign Office's much younger cat Palmerston. His Prime Ministers are David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer. And his monarch is Elizabeth II and Charles III.

Health

Since being a kitten, Larry has been in good health and has lived over the average of other cats. 

In January 2016 Larry had suffered an infection, which he later recovered from. 

On 24 September 2023, The Sun reported that Larry was seriously ill and that 10 Downing Street were in the process of preparing his death. Downing Street denied this and said Larry was "happy and healthy."

 Early life 
Larry is a rescued stray cat from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home who was chosen by Downing Street staff. Larry was intended to be a pet for the children of David and Samantha Cameron, and was described by Downing Street sources as a "good ratter" and as having "a high chase-drive and hunting instinct". In 2012, Battersea Dogs and Cats Home revealed that Larry's popularity had resulted in a surge of 15% more people adopting cats.

 Career 

 Official duties 
The Downing Street website describes Larry's duties as "greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences, and testing antique furniture for napping quality". It says he is "contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house" and has told Downing Street that such a solution is still in the "tactical planning stage".

Unlike his predecessors since 1929, Larry's upkeep is funded by the staff of 10 Downing Street. Fund-raising events to pay for his food are believed to have included a quiz night for Downing Street staff held in the state rooms.

 Work as a Chief Mouser 
He made his first known kill – a mouse – on 22 April 2011. On 28 August 2012, Larry made his first public killing, dropping his prey on the lawn in front of Number 10. In October 2013, Larry caught four mice in two weeks and one staff member rescued a mouse from his clutches.

In July 2015, George Osborne and Cabinet Office Minister Matt Hancock cornered a mouse in the Chancellor of the Exchequer's office, trapping it in a brown paper sandwich bag. The press joked that the Chancellor of the Exchequer might take over the Chief Mouser position.

David Cameron explained during his final Prime Minister's Questions in 2016 that Larry is a civil servant and not personal property, so would not leave Downing Street after a change of premier.
David Cameron has said that Larry is a "bit nervous" around men, speculating that, since Larry was a rescue cat, this may be due to negative experiences in his past. Cameron mentioned that Barack Obama is an apparent exception to this fear: he said, "Funnily enough he liked Obama. Obama gave him a stroke and he was all right with Obama."

In June 2019, in what was described in the press as a photobombing, Larry could be seen on the window ledge outside 10 Downing Street as Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip May posed with US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump at the start of Trump's state visit to the UK; he later sheltered from the rain under Trump's presidential state car and was convinced to come out only after some time.

Prime Minister Liz Truss told the American journalist Jake Tapper in an interview in September 2022 that "he's doing a great job, although he does spend rather a lot of his time asleep."

He had a brief encounter with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in October 2024 and met President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in 2025. Larry also met and seemed friendly with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in September 2025, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever in December 2025 and Polish President Karol Nawrocki in January 2026.

 In popular culture 
A picture gallery to celebrate Larry's first two years in office was produced by The Daily Telegraph.

Larry's adventures and observations on life at Number 10 became the subject of a weekly cartoon in The Sunday Express, drawn by the cartoonist Ted Harrison.

In 2012 Larry was visible on the Google Street View of Number 10, sleeping next to the door.

A toy version of Larry is featured in the window of a mock version of 10 Downing Street, as reproduced in the lobby of The Londoner Macao in Macau, China.

Press photographers at 10 Downing Street who regularly take pictures of Larry have become popular on social media, and the photographer Justin Ng explained Larry's popularity through his "universal appeal" and described him as "media savvy." Ng and Larry were featured in a documentary about cats by British writer David Baddiel broadcast on Channel 4 in January 2026.

Sky News included Larry the Cat in its virtual Downing Street representation as part of its coverage of the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

An unofficial parody Twitter account called @Number10Cat has become widely known for mocking and providing commentary on British and international political developments. The New York Times noted in 2022 that it "posts occasionally snarky observations about [the] rotating cast of prime ministers who occupy the house."https://x.com/Number10cat/status/1880309220765233188 In September 2024 The Times published a parody article attributed to Larry expressing his views about the new prime minister, Starmer, and his pets, and also highlighted several posts from the account over the years. In July 2025, French President Emmanuel Macron, Keir Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves joked about Larry and the Twitter account during Macron's state visit, with Reeves suggesting he was "the most popular person in Downing Street" and Starmer stating that he "has a very good social media profile" and telling Macron that "nobody knows" who writes the account's posts. Macron called a post by the account about the lending of the Bayeux Tapestry "wonderful" and also referred to it during his press conference statement.https://x.com/Number10cat/status/1942914145411617251 French news channel station BFM TV had also posted a feature about Larry on its social media accounts in connection with the visit.

In 2025 a book about animals in politics by journalist and former U.K. government advisor Peter Cardwell was inspired by the author's interactions with and social media posts about Larry. According to Cardwell, a rat seen on TV during a BBC broadcast brought about the decision to get a cat at Downing Street and he wrote that despite some doubts Larry has in fact caught some mice.

In February 2026, ITV News, the Associated Press and Sky News marked his 15th year at Downing Street in news videos.

 References 

Category:Chief mousers to the Cabinet Office