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Revision as of 12:20, 12 May 2010

Chief Mouser
British Politics

Arms of HM Government
Most recent:
Sybil
Residence 10 Downing St, London, UK
First Chief Mouser Treasury Bill
Formation 1924

The Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the unofficial title of the official resident cat of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at 10 Downing Street. Only one cat was given the title officially;[1] the other cats are given this title affectionately, usually by the British press. There has been a resident Treasury or Downing Street cat "employed" as a mouser and pet since the reign of Henry VIII,[2] although official records released into the public domain on 4 January 2005 as part of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 only date back to 3 June 1929,[3][4] when AE Banham at the Treasury authorised the Office Keeper "to spend 1d a day from petty cash towards the maintenance of an efficient cat".[5] In April 1932, his weekly allowance was upped to 1s 6d. By the 21st century, the mouser was costing £100 per annum.[6]

As the cats are "employed" as civil servants,[7] they do not belong to the Prime Minister in residence and it is rare for the Chief Mouser's "term of office" to coincide with that of the Prime Minister. The cat with the longest tenure at Downing Street is Wilberforce, who served under Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher. The post is currently vacant following the departure of the last incumbent, Sybil, in January 2009. Sybil, who began her tenure on 11 September 2007, was the first mouser for ten years following the retirement of her predecessor Humphrey in 1997. Sybil was owned by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, who lives in 10 Downing Street while the incumbent Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, lives in the larger 11 Downing Street.[8][9] It was reported that she did not settle in London, and returned to Scotland to live with a friend of the Darlings.[10] Sybil died 27 July 2009.[11][12]

List of cats

Name Began tenure Ended tenure Prime Minister(s) Refs
Treasury Bill 1924 Ramsay MacDonald [13]
Peter fl. 1929 1946 Stanley Baldwin, Ramsay MacDonald, Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee [3]
Munich Mouser 1937–1940 1943 Neville Chamberlain, Winston Churchill [14][15]
Nelson 1940s Winston Churchill [15][16]
Peter II 1946 1948 Clement Attlee [3]
Peter 1948 1964 Clement Attlee, Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan, Alec Douglas-Home [3]
Peta 1964 ca. 1978 Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson, Edward Heath [3]
Wilberforce 1970 1988 Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher [17]
Humphrey 1989 1997 Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair [18]
Sybil 2007 2009 Gordon Brown [19][20]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Purr-fect ending fur Humphrey!". BBC News. 25 November 1997. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  2. ^ Davies, Caroline (24 November 1997). "More questions over how No 10 handled the kitty". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Home Office cat history revealed". BBC News. 4 January 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  4. ^ "The official Home Office cat". HM Government. The National Archives. 1929–1976. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  5. ^ "Tale of Home Office cat". Metro. Associated Newspapers. 4 January 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  6. ^ Millward, David (15 March 2005). "Humphrey... the Downing Street dossier". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  7. ^ Fenton, Ben (4 January 2005). "The official Home Office cat". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  8. ^ "No. 10 has its first cat since Humphrey". Reuters. 12 September 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  9. ^ Nick, Assinder (12 September 2007). "No 10 gets new feline first lady". BBC News. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  10. ^ "A Country Life for the No. 10 Cat". The Daily Mail. 30 January 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  11. ^ Crichton, Torcuil (29 July 2009). "Darling's cat Sybil dies after a short illness". The Herald. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  12. ^ McSmith, Andy (29 July 2009). "Farewell to the original New Labour cat". The Independent. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  13. ^ "Employed Cats and Their Pay". note: reprint. OldAndSold.com. 1936. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
    • "EMPLOYED CATS AND THEIR PAY". note: reprint. messybeast.com. 1936. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  14. ^ Irving, David (2001). Churchill's War Volume II: Triumph in Adversity. Focal Point Publications. p. 833. ISBN 1-872-19715-9.
  15. ^ a b "Riddles, Mysteries, Enigmas". Finest Hour (110). The Churchill Centre. Spring 2001.
  16. ^ "Riddles, Mysteries, Enigmas". Finest Hour (109). The Churchill Centre. Winter 2000–2001.
  17. ^ Merrick, Jane (11 September 2007). "Ten years after the Humphrey hoo-ha, a cat returns to Downing Street". The Daily Mail. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  18. ^ "Humphrey the Cat" (PDF). HM Government. Cabinet Office. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  19. ^ "Morning press briefing from 11 September 2007". 10 Downing Street. HM Government. 11 September 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2008.
  20. ^ "Number 10 welcomes new resident". 10 Downing Street. HM Government. 11 September 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2008.

Further reading

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