10 Downing Street Cat Threatens Resignation, “Either He Goes, Or I Do”

Written by: Kelli Brinegar
For more than five years, Kelli Brinegar has been using her ability to write and her passion for research to tell the tale of what cats are thinking and why. She has provided care to more than 30 cats in her lifetime.Read more
| Published on July 15, 2022

The British Parliament has seen a major shakeup in the past weeks as a mass resignation of Conservative Party members forced UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to tender his resignation. Johnson served as the Prime Minister of Britain since July 2019. His tenure has been wracked with issue after issue, including groping allegations and quoting a Batman villain in his first speech after taking office.

But just a couple of days prior to Johnson’s stepdown, another resident of No. 10 Downing Street took to Twitter, threatening his own resignation if Johnson didn’t go. Lucky for fans of Larry the Cat, the feline in residence at the No. 10, Johnson has relinquished his position so this highly political cat doesn’t have to bail out with the sixty resigning Tories.

Cat with Staying Power

Larry has held the title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom at 10 Downing Street since 2011 when he was just a young lad. And one thing Larry likes to make clear, “I’m not ‘Boris Johnson’s cat.’”

As Larry shared about Johnson on his official Twitter account, “Like all Prime Ministers, he’s only a temporary resident of Downing Street.”

“I live here permanently,” asserted Larry. “When he finally goes, I stay.”

And with Johnson gone, Larry has now outlasted three British Prime Ministers. Former PM David Cameron is one of the three who have come and gone from 10 Downing, but his legacy includes adopting Larry into the PM’s residence because of a rat problem. According to The Hill, Larry was a stray cat adopted from the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home and the first cat to take up residence at No. 10 since feline Humphrey retired in 1997.

At 15 years old, Larry has watched much political drama unfold, and he’s not shy about sharing his views on Twitter. His musings have earned him more the 628k followers.

Larry Tweets It How It Is

In his coverage of the Cabinet shakeup before Johnson’s exit, Larry revealed how fed up he’d become and tweeted, “I can no longer, in good conscience, live with this Prime Minister. Either he goes, or I do.”

To help the country through this rough patch, the handsome tabby and white cat graciously offered, “I am willing to serve as caretaker Prime Minister because that’s frankly less ridiculous than the idea of Boris Johnson hanging around a minute longer.”

He also offered, “If Boris Johnson hasn’t resigned by 10am I will be forced to crap in his shoes.”

Larry’s threat seemed to do the trick with Johnson indeed tendering his resignation. And now that the hunt is on for the next Conservative Prime Minister, Larry is feeling frustrated as the candidates haven’t addressed the crucial issues…

Purrhaps Larry should be the next leader…

And Larry also delivered a heads up to the American people…

Follow Larry the Cat on Twitter to get the feline take on British politics and lookout for #kitileaks to catch the inside scoop on the happenings at 10 Downing Street.

Feature Image: @Number10cat/Twitter