/ 11 September 2007

Number 10 has its first cat since Humphrey

Nearly a decade since Humphrey was shown the door to 10 Downing Street, the prime ministerial house has a cat in residence again.

Sybil, named after Basil’s wife in the classic 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers, has moved down from Edinburgh with Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling and his family who are living in the three-bedroomed flat above number 10.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his wife Sarah and their two sons live in the bigger flat at 11 Downing Street, traditionally the home of the Chancellor.

Sybil is black and white like her predecessor and also shares the TV name connection — Humphrey was named after Sir Humphrey Appleby in the Yes Minister political comedy show.

She also enjoys a distinct advantage over Humphrey in that she comes with the family rather than the house — which was widely believed to have been Humphrey’s ultimate undoing.

Humphrey, who died in March 2006, had walked into London’s most powerful address as a stray late in Margaret Thatcher’s premiership in 1989.

He lived there on and off during the John Major years as a passive Conservative ally but fell from grace after Labour’s landslide election victory in May 1997.

Six months later Humphrey was gone, amid much newspaper speculation that new occupant Tony Blair’s wife Cherie was behind the move.

”The prime minister doesn’t have a problem with it [the cat]. Sarah Brown doesn’t have a problem with it,” said Brown’s spokesperson on Tuesday, confirming Sybil was now in residence.

She is far from being the first Downing Street cat.

Before Humphrey, the best known was Wilberforce who lived at number 10 during the Edward Heath years, and who died in 1988. – Reuters