Whitehall cat fight! Gladstone takes on Larry and Palmerston
LOOKING businesslike in his red and white bow tie, this is Gladstone, the latest cat to join the Whitehall mouse patrol.
While the mandarins of the Treasury department chew over weighty financial matters, their newest member of staff will tackle a different problem – rats and mice.
The 18-month-old black cat from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home is joining the department in Horse Guards Road with the title of ‘chief mouser’.
Named after William Ewart Gladstone, the 19th century prime minister who also served four times as chancellor, he is the third feline to enter the corridors of power, joining Larry at No10 and Palmerston at the Foreign Office.
Officials are braced for a possible feud between Gladstone and the other two. Larry – one of the few post holders to survive Theresa May’s Government reshuffle this month – already has a strained relationship with Palmerston, ending up at the vet’s with a paw injury following a scuffle between them.
It seems Gladstone will stand up for himself. The caption to an Instagram photo of him in a cat carrier reads: ‘The humans had to keep me in this cage in case I ran down the street and tormented some other mouser called “Larry”. Personally, I’ve never heard of him.’
Another post on Instagram reads: ‘My friends would say I’m friendly, handsome, and somewhat emotionally guarded.’ And his profile on the website calls him ‘the most popular colleague at Her Majesty’s Treasury’, where he catches mice and ‘receives cuddles’.
Gladstone has been in the Treasury for a couple of weeks. He has been confined to an office but will soon be fitted with a tracker so he can wander free around the Treasury estate to fulfil his mousing duties.
His food and upkeep is being paid for by Treasury staff who all contribute to a kitty.
Larry, a nine-year-old brown and white tabby, has lived at No 10 since 2011. He was adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, as was two-year-old Palmerston, who joined the Foreign Office in April.