UK government office welcomes Evie and Ossie despite saying two months ago that it was ‘definitely not’ bringing in another cat

The Cabinet Office has welcomed two new cats, despite insisting two months ago that it was “definitely not” getting another feline to help deal with the continuing problem of rats and mice.

The cats, Ossie and Evie, arrived in time for celebratory glasses of champagne to mark the centenary this month of the founding of the Cabinet Office during the first world war, and the publication of Anthony Seldon’s history of the office and the 11 cabinet secretaries, The Cabinet Office 1916-2016.

A Cabinet Office spokesperson said Ossie had not been named after the former chancellor George Osborne. “The cats are named Evie after Dame Evelyn Sharp, the first female permanent secretary, and Ossie after Sir Edward Osmotherly, author of the Osmotherly rules, the guide that civil servants have when giving evidence to parliamentary select committees,” they said.

Their arrival brings the number of official cats in Downing Street and Whitehall to five, all maintained by staff contributions. Evie and Ossie join the Treasury cat, Gladstone, Palmerston at the Foreign Office and the No 10 cat, Larry.

So far, Gladstone appears to have the best mousing record, having been described as “a cold-blooded killer” after registering six catches in his first three months in office. Treasury officials noted the contrast with Larry, who is often photographed snoozing on a chair and took six months to kill his first mouse.



But Larry’s dozing has been disrupted by the arrival of Palmerston next door. Skirmishes between the two have been captured on camera, one of which left Larry’s tattered collar lying in the gutter.

David Cameron used his final prime minister’s questions to affirm his devotion to Larry. “It gives me the opportunity to put a rumour to rest as well, even more serious than the Strictly Come Dancing one … The rumour that I somehow don’t love Larry. I do and I have photographic evidence to prove it. Sadly, I can’t take Larry with me, he belongs to the house and the staff love him very much, as do I,” he said.

The most famous recent holder of the title of chief mouser to the Cabinet Office was Humphrey, named in honour of the wily senior civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes Minister, who was in the post for nine years until shortly after the arrival of the Blairs. An awkward photocall in an attempt to quell rumours that Cherie Blair loathed the cat led to speculation that Humphrey had to be sedated to get through the ordeal.

He retired on medical grounds shortly afterwards, but the story spread that he had been put to sleep. The Conservative MP Alan Clark said at the time: “Unless I hear from him or he makes a public appearance, I suspect he has been shot.”

The rumours were only stifled when a photograph was released of Humphrey posing with the newspapers of that date. He died aged 18 in 2006 and his obituary featured in the Guardian.