Top cat

United Kingdom • Everyone knows that the British prime minister lives at number 10 Downing Street. But someone else lives there, too — Larry the cat. Since he arrived, in 2011, Larry has been arguably Downing Street’s most steadfast resident, and the only one people are always happy to see. Far from being just a pet, Larry has the official title of chief mouser to the Cabinet Office.

Over the past several years, Larry has seen a number of prime ministers come and go. Most recently, Boris Johnson’s government finally collapsed as the scandals and mistakes became too much even for his own party. As a populist, Johnson didn’t like taking unpopular decisions, preferring to tell people what they wanted to hear. This meant he was protectionist as well as pro-free trade; he wanted big government-funded projects and tax cuts for everyone. This leaves Britain in a bad position, with the highest inflation rate in the G7 and the group’s lowest expected growth for 2023. Industrial action is rising, and a cost-of-living crisis is growing.

Cats are not fond of change, so Larry (along with the rest of the country) will be hoping the new government quickly gets back to sustainable policies.