Political Animals

Larrythe cat, chief mouser of Downing Street, has seen off five Prime Ministers sofar and is a national treasure. Though certainly the most famous cat inBritain, Larry is only one of a long line of political animals at the seats ofgovernment on both sides of the Atlantic.Frompandas and platypuses to Labradors and lions, animals have long shored up peacebetween rivals, clinched election campaigns, caused divisions within partiesand left their unique calling cards in the halls of power.Journalistand former special adviser Peter Cardwell traces the political (andnot-so-political) adventures of these fascinating pets from Tudor times to No.10's newest kitten. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Washington andWestminster insiders, including Prime Ministers past and present, Cardwellreveals never-before-heard tales of political pets and offers a fresh insightinto the enduring relationships between those in government and their furryfriends.Thisupdated paperback edition explores Larry's life under the eventful premiershipsof Theresa May and Liz Truss and takes a closer look at the life of Palmerston,the former Foreign Office cat, who passed in February 2026.

Peter Cardwell is abroadcaster, author, academic and international political commentator. Heserved as a special adviser in the UK government for three and a half years,working across four departments. Peter has worked on three continents for theBBC, Sky News and ITV and has written for publications including The Times,the Sunday Independent and Your Cat magazine. He is currently apresenter on Talk and, occasionally, Times Radio.After being educated in NorthernIreland, Peter studied at St Hugh's College, Oxford, before winning a Fulbrightscholarship to the Columbia School of Journalism, New York.He lives in London with hisrescue cat Jack.