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 officially given the title; 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, 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,
when AE Banham at the Treasury authorised the Office Keeper "to spend 1
d a day from petty cash towards the maintenance of an efficient cat".
In April 1932, his weekly allowance was upped to 1
s 6d. By the 21st century, the mouser was costing
£100 per annum.
As the cats are "employed" as civil servants, 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. It was reported that she did not settle in London, and returned to Scotland to live with a friend of the Darlings. Sybil died 27 July 2009.
List of cats
See also
