Larry the Cat Awaits His 7th Prime Minister at Downing Street

On the morning of June 22, at 10 Downing Street in London, speculation was at its peak that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was about to announce his resignation.

As reporters began to gather, an elderly cat sat in front of the black door with an indifferent expression.

This is Larry, the resident cat of Downing Street, who holds the official title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office and even has his own official social media account.

Prime Minister Starmer eventually announced his resignation plans that day, and Larry earned new nicknames such as the cat who has welcomed seven prime ministers and the longest-serving official who has outlasted six prime ministers.

Born as a stray in 2007, Larry was living in an animal shelter before his life took a dramatic turn in 2011 when he was adopted into the Prime Minister's residence during the term of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron.

Since then, he has welcomed four more Conservative prime ministers—Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak—and witnessed the change of government to the Labour Party in July 2024.

When Starmer took office that year, news circulated that Prime Minister's Office staff had prepared a death plan for Larry, as he was already 17 years old, a significant age for a cat.

At the time, British media reported that the plan was dubbed Operation Larry Bridge, a play on Operation London Bridge, the government's comprehensive response plan for the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

Two years later, at 19, Larry remains in good health, bringing joy and comfort to the British public, while Prime Minister Starmer prepares to close his chapter at Downing Street.

Media reports and social media posts contrasting the fates of Larry and Prime Minister Starmer are tinged with bitterness.

This is because they reflect the chaotic reality of British politics, which once boasted a stable system.

Over the past decade, the United Kingdom has had the highest number of leaders among the Group of Seven (G7) nations.

Italy and Japan have each had five, the United States and Germany three each, and France and Canada two each.

The rapid downfall of Prime Minister Starmer is different from the cases of former Prime Minister Truss, who resigned after 49 days due to major economic blunders and was nicknamed the Cabbage Prime Minister, or former Prime Minister Johnson, who stepped down in disgrace following the COVID-19 party scandal.

It is a dramatic reversal for a leader who secured a landslide victory, winning 412 out of 650 seats in the general election, only to bow his head and announce his resignation two years later. It is difficult to pinpoint a single clear reason.

If one were to summarize it in a word, it would be that he lost his authority within the party, but this is a result rather than a cause.

One must look at the various reasons for the loss of control within the party.

These include inconsistent governance, such as announcing welfare cuts only to reverse them, cabinet members receiving gifts of clothing, the influence of Chief of Staff Sue Gray, and the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Ambassador to the U.S., who had ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

While there is a somewhat predictable political narrative of approval ratings plummeting, internal party dissatisfaction building up, and the situation becoming uncontrollable after a crushing defeat in local elections, the prevailing sentiment in the UK is focused less on why Prime Minister Starmer failed and more on why prime ministers keep changing.

Italy was often cited in Europe as a country with frequent changes in leadership, but there are now self-deprecating remarks such as, "Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is now seeing her fourth British prime minister," and laments that "the UK has become an ungovernable country."

Various causes are being suggested.

These include social division surrounding the Brexit upheaval, an economy that has not fully recovered from the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, a series of blunders by prime ministers, deep public distrust in politics, and the lack of communication with backbenchers after entering 10 Downing Street.

The development of social media, which has changed the scale and level of public discourse, is also cited as a contributing factor.

The likely next occupant of 10 Downing Street to be welcomed by Chief Mouser Larry is Andy Burnham, a member of parliament and former Mayor of Greater Manchester, known as the King of the North.

The time allotted to him is three years, until the summer of 2029, which marks the end of the current parliamentary term.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)

Reported by Yoo Younggyu | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.