Larry (born c. January 2007) is a British domestic tabby cat who has served as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office at 10 Downing Street since 2011.

Larry has lived at 10 Downing Street during the premierships of six prime ministers: David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Rishi Sunak, and Keir Starmer.

[3] Soon after he was taken in at Downing Street, a story circulated in the press purporting that Larry was a lost cat and that the original owner had begun a campaign to retrieve him.

[5] The Downing Street website describes Larry's duties as "greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality".

[7][8] Fundraising events (organised to pay for his food) are believed to have included a quiz night, held in the state rooms.

[9] David Cameron explained during his final PMQ in 2016 that Larry is a civil servant and not his personal property, and would therefore stay at Downing Street after his successor took office.

"[11] Later that year, it was revealed that Larry spent more time sleeping than hunting for mice, and shared the company of a female cat, Maisie.

[12] At one point in 2011, mice were so endemic in Downing Street that the Prime Minister, David Cameron, resorted to throwing a fork at one during a Cabinet dinner.

Nevertheless, online gambling company Ladbrokes made Cameron the odds-on (1/2) favourite to leave Downing Street first, with Larry as the 6/4 outsider.

[27] In August 2016, Alistair Graham, former chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life, responded to controversy over favouritism in Cameron's Dissolution Honours List by joking that he was "surprised Larry the cat didn't get one".

[31] Prime Minister Liz Truss told CNN's Jake Tapper in a September 2022 interview that "he's doing a great job, although he does spend rather a lot of his time asleep.

"[32] Shortly after Rishi Sunak's surprise televised announcement of a general election, in the pouring rain, Larry was pictured on the live Downing St feed of the BBC waiting patiently for re-entry to No.10.

[33] In June 2012, the chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne was reunited with his long lost cat Freya, who moved into 11 Downing Street.

[41] In June 2021, the then chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak adopted a Fox Red Labrador puppy named Nova to live at 11 Downing Street.

[45] On 2 September 2024, BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley revealed that he has been briefed that another cat, a Siberian kitten has joined the Starmer household.

Originally the children wanted a German Shepherd dog, but were persuaded with another cat due to the difficulty with the inside front door of the Number 10 flat.

[57] Larry's exploits and observations on life at Number 10 became the subject of a weekly cartoon in The Sunday Express drawn by cartoonist Ted Harrison.