Charlie Wolf

Post: #1 (ID: 5798)

BBC NEWS

No 10 gets new feline first lady
Sketch
By Nick Assinder
Political correspondent, BBC News website

The last occupant of 10 Downing Street became an embarrassing irritant after a decade and was finally put out to grass to spend his remaining years in obscurity.

Now there is a new, Scottish, face at the head of the Cabinet table who is loved by everyone and who has the run of the place.

It must be one of the most privileged, and soon-to-be best known cats in British public life.
Sybil - as in Basil and Sybil Fawlty - the black and white moggie is much loved in the home of the current Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling.

And that home is now the flat above the heart of Britain's government - 10 Downing Street - where the Darlings, including Sybil, have moved to from north of the border.

Prime minister Gordon Brown's official spokesman confirmed a new cat was in residence, adding: "The prime minister and Sarah do not have a problem with it. I am sure the cat will appear at some point."

You bet it will - the media's picture desks are already demanding a photocall with the celebrity feline.

Asked if the moggie was being given free rein in the building, the spokesman pointed out cats were not the easiest of animals to deny access to.

However, Sybil is unlikely to face the same fate as her predecessor, Humphrey, who had stalked the corridors of power for years after wandering in during Margaret Thatcher's reign in 1989.

He was perfectly at home snoozing on the prime minister's chair at the Cabinet table and chasing mice, when he could work up the enthusiasm, but was moved out six months after Labour's 1997 general election win.

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There were all sorts of dark rumours about Cherie Blair's role in the move and she was forced to deny her dislike for the animal was to blame.

Eventually, almost a decade later, Humphrey - named after the Whitehall mandarin Sir Humphrey from the TV series "Yes, Prime Minister" - passed peacefully away at the home of a Cabinet Office worker who had taken him in.

Official questions were asked in the House of Commons about Humphrey's absence and health after his departure from Downing Street in 1997.

The media were later invited to a South London property, where Humphrey was photographed, hostage-style, with copies of the day's newspapers.

If I were Sybil, I would do the photo-call as soon as possible - once you've made it to the front pages no occupant of No 10 would want anything to happen which might alienate the cat vote.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk_politics/6989055.stm

Published: 2007/09/11 11:48:37 GMT

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