The China Mail - Larry the Downing Street cat gets 'Russian' rival

New prime minister Keir Starmer and his family, who moved into Number 10 after the Labour leader's thumping general election win in July, brought their family cat JoJo with them.

Now after "negotiations" with the Starmer children -- who had wanted a German Shepherd dog -- it has been agreed that Jojo will also be joined by a "Siberian kitten".

"There's been a long summer of negotiations, back and forth, different options," Starmer told BBC radio in an interview broadcast on Monday.

"But now we've gone for... a kitten instead of a dog," he added.

But Larry has been top cat at the British prime ministerial residence in central London for the last 13 years.

The 17-year-old tabby was adopted from a cat rescue charity in 2011 to keep the Downing Street mice at bay, although then premier David Cameron revealed his performance left something to be desired.

Despite that, Larry has become a media star -- particularly popular with journalists -- and even has his own social media account @Number10cat.

Starmer -- Larry's sixth prime minister -- revealed that feline rivalry was not the only issue with having pets in Downing Street.

"The problem we've got, which is the same for JoJo the cat, is that the only door out of our new flat is bomb proof," he said.

"Therefore, getting a cat flap is proving a little bit difficult," he added.

- 'Larry Bridges' -

Given Larry's celebrity status as the greatest survivor of the political upheaval of recent years, officials have even drawn up a detailed plan in the event of his death.

Like that for the late Queen Elizabeth II, which was codenamed "London Bridge", Larry's plan has been dubbed "Larry Bridges".

The arrival of the Starmers' new pet was welcomed by Sarah Elliott, central veterinary officer for the charity Cats Protection.

But she added a few words of advice for the Starmers as they try to integrate the new addition.

"As the junior member of the growing cat coalition at Downing Street, the prime minister and his family will need to take plenty of time to slowly introduce the new addition to JoJo and Larry.

And she added: "Young kittens can be exhausting for older statesmen like Larry, so he'll also need a safe, quiet area to retreat to when the energy of a younger member of the team gets a bit too much," she added.

Larry himself on Tuesday made it clear he was very still very much in charge.

"The kitten will REPORT to Larry the Cat," he said on X, via the human running his social media account.

C.Smith--ThChM