Cat Fight in British Politics
As an unprecedented political drama continued to unfold outside London’s 10 Downing Street, police had to be called to break up the catfight over who should inhabit the Prime Minister’s official residence.
The two contenders are Larry, the incumbent, who has been viewed as somewhat lackadaisical in his efforts to woo voters with his mouse-catching skills, and the challenger, Freya, who lives next door at Number 11, the official home of the Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury Secretary).
Freya, a silver tabby, reportedly won the latest debate, and Larry was ordered back inside Number 10 and had to concede the street to his rival.
Larry remains the official occupant of Number 10, and, by custom, will continue to serve there even if David Cameron loses the next election. He succeeded Sybil, who lived there during the Gordon Brown administration.
According to the Daily Telegraph:
It is not known what caused fur to fly between the feline residents of Numbers 10 and 11 Downing Street. Relations between their human occupants are far more amicable than when Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were prime minister and chancellor respectively.
Things were indeed frosty, even un-neighborly between the suave, English Mr. Blair and the blunt, Scottish Mr. Brown, who took over as Prime Minister and led the Labour Party to defeat at the hands of the current Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Back in the 1940s, Winston Churchill served under Prime Feline Nelson.
But the cat with the longest tenure at Number 10 was Wilberforce, who served while four prime ministers came and went: Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, Jim Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher.
And it’s said that the tradition dates back to the reign of Henry VIII, whose Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, had a cat next to him when he presided over parliament.