I wonder if the powers that be will seek a replacement cat to keep the mice levels down
The No. 10 cat is no more
March 22, 2006
HE WAS a homeless orphan who clawed his way to the very heart of government and served under three prime ministers.
Despite his rise to the top, Humphrey, the Downing Street cat, who wandered into the No. 10 home of Margaret Thatcher as a stray in 1989, died in humble obscurity.
His death last week was confirmed by the Cabinet Office worker who took him in when he was supposedly "retired" from active service in 1997.
"He was well looked after in south London by a security guard who still works at the Cabinet Office," said a Government spokesman. "He had a long and peaceful retirement."
For years the black and white tom stalked the corridors of power, ridding them of unwanted rodents. With his favourite cat food paid for by a Whitehall allowance of £100 a year, he was considered far more successful and economical than official pest controllers.
Two incidents thrust Humphrey, named after the civil servant portrayed by Nigel Hawthorne in the television comedy Yes Minister, into the national conscience and led to him becoming the only cat to be the subject of an official parliamentary question.
The first was the great robin massacre, which, thanks to his political tenacity and frantic denials by his Cabinet Office minders, he managed to weather. The second proved more costly. Shortly after Labour came to power in 1997, rumours started circulating that Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie did not like cats.
The Labour spin doctors whirled into action, arranging a photo call with Humphrey and Mrs Blair in the garden of No. 10.
He clung on to his job, but the writing was on the wall.
Humphrey was retired soon after, his Whitehall minders claiming that a kidney problem had rendered him unable to continue his work.
The No. 10 cat is no more
March 22, 2006
HE WAS a homeless orphan who clawed his way to the very heart of government and served under three prime ministers.
Despite his rise to the top, Humphrey, the Downing Street cat, who wandered into the No. 10 home of Margaret Thatcher as a stray in 1989, died in humble obscurity.
His death last week was confirmed by the Cabinet Office worker who took him in when he was supposedly "retired" from active service in 1997.
"He was well looked after in south London by a security guard who still works at the Cabinet Office," said a Government spokesman. "He had a long and peaceful retirement."
For years the black and white tom stalked the corridors of power, ridding them of unwanted rodents. With his favourite cat food paid for by a Whitehall allowance of £100 a year, he was considered far more successful and economical than official pest controllers.
Two incidents thrust Humphrey, named after the civil servant portrayed by Nigel Hawthorne in the television comedy Yes Minister, into the national conscience and led to him becoming the only cat to be the subject of an official parliamentary question.
The first was the great robin massacre, which, thanks to his political tenacity and frantic denials by his Cabinet Office minders, he managed to weather. The second proved more costly. Shortly after Labour came to power in 1997, rumours started circulating that Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie did not like cats.
The Labour spin doctors whirled into action, arranging a photo call with Humphrey and Mrs Blair in the garden of No. 10.
He clung on to his job, but the writing was on the wall.
Humphrey was retired soon after, his Whitehall minders claiming that a kidney problem had rendered him unable to continue his work.
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