Andy Burnham could get a cat for No10 North because Larry is such a hit in Downing Street

Exclusive NewsPolitics Larry the Cat, 19, has been the chief mouser of No10 Downing Street for 15 years ANDY Burnham is considering getting a cat for No10 North – as Downing Street’s Larry the Cat is so popular. Aides to the PM are lobbying for a chief mouser to be installed in the government’s new Manchester outpost. Larry the cat outside Number 10 Downing Street on July 19, 2026 in London Credit: Getty A member of the media holds out a microphone to Larry the cat in Downing Street Credit: Reuters Suggested names include “Gary” and “Barry” – in tribute to No10’s Larry. A senior sources told The Sun on Sunday: “Everyone loves Larry the cat. Sign up for the Politics newsletter Thank you! “Now there is a concerted lobbying effort to get a cat for No10 North. “But the building is owned by GCHQ, so they would have to get permission from them to do it.” Larry was adopted by then PM David Cameron from Battersea Dogs and Cats home in 2011. The chief mouser, who is 19 years-old, and is now onto his seventh PM. He is a huge hit with the public and politicians from all over the world. He has met Barack and Michelle Obama and Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. Mr Burnham has a pet dog called Axel, but decided not to move him from Manchester to Downing Street as “he wouldn’t get on with Larry”. Most read in The Sun Larry proved such a hit that other Whitehall departments adopted their own cats. Andy Burnham opened No10 North weeks after becoming PM and described it as the best day of his life Credit: Times Media Ltd The Treasury adopted black cat Gladstone in 2016, names after former Liberal Chancellor William Gladstone. The Foreign Office adopted the black and white cat Palmerston – named after the famous 19th Century Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston. Mr Burnham opened No10 North in Manchester in July, just weeks after becoming PM. It is designed to turbocharge economic growth and devolution across the North. Comment now