Keep Calm And Carry On With Larry

. As the UK prepares, yet again, for a new prime minister — its seventh in a decade — the suspense is no longer over who will occupy the hottest seat in the nation, but on whether Larry the Chief Mouser will bother to establish relations with them. He was, after all, in office when an iceberg lettuce outlasted a head of government. At the present rate of upheaval, he may well be there to welcome his eighth prime minister. A cat may be forgiven, therefore, for wanting to distance himself from the messy affairs of humans.

For Larry stands, calm and unbothered, amid yet another spell of political bad weather. And it’s no wonder that he’s come to be the one sign of constancy in troubled times; even back in 2024, when Sir Keir Starmer came to office on a historic mandate — with Labour securing 411 out of 650 seats in the House of Commons — a poll of ordinary Britons showed that 44 per cent plumped for the cat as prime minister, compared to Sir Keir (34 per cent) and Rishi Sunak (22 per cent). True, he hasn’t always kept his eye on the ball — or mouse. But being caught napping on the job is a negligible offence when others are implicated in financial mismanagement and quid-pro-quo scandals.

Perhaps it is time the laurel crown that he is named for was made literal. For a UK staring at yet more political turmoil, it may be time to keep calm and carry on with Larry.