Does Keir Starmer have a pet? Tatler’s definitive history of pets in Downing Street

Does Keir Starmer have a pet? Tatler’s definitive history of pets in Downing Street

A Downing Street resident while Alec Douglas-Home, Harold Wilson and Edward Heath each served as Prime Minister, Peta (whose proper pedigree name was Manninagh KateDhu) was the first female cat to serve as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. It was the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, Sir Ronald Garvey, who came up with the idea that a Manx cat should take on the post after the death of Peta’s predecessor, although her time in the role was not without controversy. Peta was said to be loud, lazy and not toilet trained, with some civil servants seeking to have her ousted from Cabinet. She remained in the position, however, amid fears of a public backlash, before quietly retiring to the home of a civil servant around 1976.

Peter III

Peta’s predecessor, Peter III, served as Chief Mouser under Prime Ministers Clement Attlee, Sir Winston Churchill, Anthony Eden, Harold Macmillan and Alec Douglas-Home. He was appointed to the position in 1947 and came to public fame after appearing on the BBC in 1958. Indeed he was said to have had quite the international fanbase, reaching to Italy and the United States, before he was sadly put down in 1964 on account of a liver infection.

Peter II

A black cat who held the role of Chief Mouser from 1946 to 1947, during the government of Clement Attlee, Peter II’s time at Downing Street was sadly brief. Arriving as a kitten to replace his predecessor, Peter, his life was cut tragically short when he was hit by a car in Whitehall and killed. Had he survived longer, no doubt his career would have been just as illustrious as that of his fellow mousers.

Nelson

Sir Winston Churchill was an ardent animal lover, said to have first met his cat Nelson outside the Admiralty buildings in London, where he saw the courageous animal chasing a dog down the road. He was so impressed by the display that he adopted the cat, naming him after the famous sailor, Horatio Nelson. Nelson became one the cats in residence at Downing Street during the war years and Churchill was said to bring him on trips to Chequers, where he’d feed his feline friend smoked salmon at the dinner table when his wife, Clementine, wasn’t looking. Not content to get into altercations only with dogs, Nelson is said to have had a fraught relationship with his fellow Downing Street Cat, Munich Mouser, too.

Munich Mouser

Appointed Chief Mouser in 1937, Munich Mouser served under Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain and Sir Winston Churchill, until 1943. Munich Mouser was a rather scathing nickname coined by Churchill in reference to the Munich Agreement, signed between his predecessor, Chamberlain, and Hitler. Munich Mouser was not impressed when Churchill arrived with Nelson, and the two cats had quite the rivalry – which seems justified considering that Nelson was fed treats from the dining table, while his predecessor received only a withering new name.

Rufus

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Winston Churchill with his poodle, RufusFremantle / Alamy Stock Photo

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