A cat has now outlasted six British prime ministers, and he did it without standing for a single election.
Larry, the official Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, has lived at 10 Downing Street since 2011. With Keir Starmer's resignation, the list of leaders who arrived and departed while Larry stayed exactly where he was reads: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and now Starmer.
That's the confirmed part, per the UK government's own history of Number 10. Larry was adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to deal with a mouse problem and simply never left.
How does a cat outlast a revolving door of governments? Because his job has nothing to do with who wins elections. Larry is Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office, not a personal pet of the sitting PM, so a change of leadership doesn't change the staffing in the building's most important pest-control role. The Associated Press has described him as a recurring symbol of continuity, the one fixture reporters reach for every time the leadership churns again.
The hype to ignore: the flood of "just make Larry the PM" posts. They're jokes, however heartfelt.
Seriously, just make Larry the PM. He's got more love and respect at this point than any of these human clowns. [1]
“Seriously, just make Larry the PM. He's got more love and respect at this point than any of these human clowns.”
Online, the reaction quickly turned to Britain's other famous benchmark of political durability. Commenters dug up the 2022 Daily Star stunt in which a livestreamed head of iceberg lettuce was bet to outlast Liz Truss in office, and it did. As one widely-upvoted reply pointed out, that lettuce is now "three Prime Ministers ago." [2]
Be careful what you read about Starmer's successor. The most-shared posts naming a "new prime minister" are satire, including a YouTuber claiming the job and a fake spokesperson quote about banning "independent thoughts." [3] [4] Treat the swearing-in claims circulating online as comedy, not reporting.
What isn't in dispute is the streak. Fifteen years, six prime ministers, one cat, same post. Larry remains at Number 10, presumably unbothered by which human moves in next.
Sources
Primary source: Larry the cat outlasts sixth UK Prime Minister as Kier Starmer resigns
- Reddit comment by Kinenai — Kinenai · community
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