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Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office

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Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office

Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the title of the official resident cat at 10 Downing Street, the residence and office of the prime minister of the United Kingdom in London. There has been a resident cat in the British government employed as a mouser and pet since the 16th century, although modern records date only to the 1920s. Despite other cats having served Downing Street, the first one to be given the official title of chief mouser by the British government was Larry in 2011. Other cats have been given this title affectionately, usually by the British press, and the cats are often portrayed in jest as being actual employees involved in the government's internal politics. In 2004, a study found that voters' perceptions of the chief mouser were not completely above partisanship.

Infobox

Residence
10 Downing Street
Appointer
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Term length
No set length; ends on retirement or death
Inaugural holder
Cardinal Wolsey's cat
Formation
c. 1515 Title first used around 1997
Website
Official website

Tables

· List of chief mousers
Rufus (popularly nicknamed "Treasury Bill")
1924
1924–1930
Rufus (popularly nicknamed "Treasury Bill")
Name
Rufus (popularly nicknamed "Treasury Bill")
Began tenure
1924
Ended tenure
c. 1930
Prime Minister(s)
Ramsay MacDonald
Peter
1929
1929–1946
Peter
Name
Peter
Began tenure
1929
Ended tenure
1946
Prime Minister(s)
Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee
Bob (later nicknamed "Munich Mouser" by Churchill)
1937
1937–1943
Bob (later nicknamed "Munich Mouser" by Churchill)
Name
Bob (later nicknamed "Munich Mouser" by Churchill)
Began tenure
1937–40
Ended tenure
1943
Prime Minister(s)
Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill
Nelson
Nelson
Name
Nelson
Began tenure
1940s
Ended tenure
Winston Churchill
Peter II
1946
1946–1947
Peter II
Name
Peter II
Began tenure
1946
Ended tenure
1947
Prime Minister(s)
Clement Attlee
Peter III
1947
1947–1964
Peter III
Name
Peter III
Began tenure
1947
Ended tenure
1964
Prime Minister(s)
Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home
Peta
1964
1964–1976
Peta
Name
Peta
Began tenure
1964
Ended tenure
c. 1976
Prime Minister(s)
Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath
Wilberforce
1973
1973–1987
Wilberforce
Name
Wilberforce
Began tenure
1973
Ended tenure
1987
Prime Minister(s)
Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher
Humphrey
1989
1989–1997
Humphrey
Name
Humphrey
Began tenure
1989
Ended tenure
1997
Prime Minister(s)
Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair
Sybil
2007
2007–2009
Sybil
Name
Sybil
Began tenure
2007
Ended tenure
2009
Prime Minister(s)
Gordon Brown
Larry
Larry
Name
Larry
Began tenure
2011
Ended tenure
current
Prime Minister(s)
David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer
Freya
2012
2012–2014
Freya
Name
Freya
Began tenure
2012
Ended tenure
2014
Prime Minister(s)
David Cameron
Name
Began tenure
Ended tenure
Prime Minister(s)
Refs
Rufus (popularly nicknamed "Treasury Bill")
1924
c. 1930
Ramsay MacDonald
Peter
1929
1946
Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee
Bob (later nicknamed "Munich Mouser" by Churchill)
1937–40
1943
Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill
Nelson
1940s
Winston Churchill
Peter II
1946
1947
Clement Attlee
Peter III
1947
1964
Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home
Peta
1964
c. 1976
Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath
Wilberforce
1973
1987
Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher
Humphrey
1989
1997
Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair
Sybil
2007
2009
Gordon Brown
Larry
2011
current
David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer
Freya
2012
2014
David Cameron

References

  1. Formerly Home Office cat.
  2. 1 penny, equivalent to £0.32 in 2023
  3. 1 shilling and six pence, equivalent to £6.58 in 2023
  4. According to the Sunday Mail article Treasury Bill/Rufus (Peter's predecessor) was apparently still on duty in 1930.
  5. BBC News
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/34455.stm
  6. BBC News
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4143423.stm
  7. Liverpool Daily Post
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/908327331/
  8. The Decatur Daily Review
    https://www.newspapers.com/image/90968695/
  9. Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box: 50 Things You Need To Know About British Elections
  10. The Telegraph
    https://web.archive.org/web/20071205223254/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/htmlContent.jhtml?html=%2Farchive%2F1997%2F11%2F24%2Fnmog124.html
  11. The Tiger in the House
    https://www.bartleby.com/234/6.html
  12. BBC News
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4143423.stm
  13. "The official Home Office cat"
    http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATLN=6&CATID=1835842
  14. Metro
    https://metro.co.uk/2005/01/04/tale-of-home-office-cat-259530/
  15. The Daily Telegraph
    https://web.archive.org/web/20050317125330/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F03%2F14%2Fndoss14.xml
  16. The Daily Telegraph
    https://web.archive.org/web/20050523101413/http://telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2005%2F01%2F04%2Fnfoi404.xml
  17. BBC
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49049852
  18. "Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office"
    http://www.number10.gov.uk/history-and-tour/larry-the-cat-chief-mouser-to-the-cabinet-office/
  19. Reuters
    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-cat-odd-idUSGOR14568220070912
  20. BBC News
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6989055.stm
  21. The Herald
    https://web.archive.org/web/20090802101755/http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/news/display.var.2522637.0.Darlings_cat_Sybil_dies_after_a_short_illness.php
  22. The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/farewell-to-the-original-new-labour-cat-1764021.html
  23. ITN
    https://web.archive.org/web/20120404121742/http://news.uk.msn.com/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=155956883
  24. BBC News
    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12265112
  25. London Evening Standard
    https://web.archive.org/web/20110504073012/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/politics/article-23923294-larry-the-tabby-lands-no10-job-as-rat-catcher.do
  26. BBC.com
    https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-12460596
  27. National Library of Australia
    https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63654594/5310743
  28. Crikey
    https://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/19/miaow-prime-minister-the-bureaucats-of-downing-street/
  29. Churchill's War Volume II: Triumph in Adversity
  30. Finest Hour
  31. Finest Hour
  32. Purr 'n' Fur: Famous Felines
    http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/famous/humphrey.html#wilberforce
  33. Los Angeles Times
    https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-05-20-mn-3809-story.html
  34. "Humphrey the Cat"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20071007232134/http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/upload/assets/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/foi/humphrey_cat.pdf
  35. "Morning press briefing from 11 September 2007"
    https://web.archive.org/web/20080104114933/http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page13158.asp
  36. "History of 10 Downing Street"
    https://archive.today/20130901101847/https://www.gov.uk/government/history/10-downing-street%23emergence-of-downing-street
  37. The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osbornes-family-cat-freya-sent-away-from-downing-street-to-kent-9849853.html
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