After 73 years, an Attlee once again rules Westminster.
But this time it’s a cat – owned by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his wife Lady Catherine – who patrols the corridors of power (looking for rodents). The puss named after post-war prime minister Clement Attlee is chief mouser in the Commons.
He lives at the Speaker’s House alongside moggy Clem, who is also named after the former Labour PM. Clem was a stray who joined the Hoyle household last summer after turning up at their door.
Sir Lindsay, 67, said: “Anybody who likes cats are nice people.” He added that he would like there to be cats across the Commons to deal with the rodent population. He said: “We’ve had the odd MP ring up and say, ‘Oh there’s a mouse in my office, can we borrow Attlee?’.”
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Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
Attlee is a Maine Coon, which is a large breed, and weighs 17lb. He meets international guests and doubles as a therapy cat for nervous visitors. Unlike some MPs, Attlee makes very few demands on the public purse. Sir Lindsay said: “He only wants a packet of Dreamies. In fact, what he’d do for one,” he added as I waved the packet trying to get him to look in the direction of Mirror photographer Ian Vogler.
Since his arrival two years ago he has amassed more than 20,000 followers on his Instagram account @attlee_the_cat which describes him as “the loveable, curious cat of the Commons”.
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Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)
While Labour swept back into power this summer with a landslide general election another, although tighter contest, saw Attlee crowned Purr Minister 2024 in aid of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, narrowly beating a moggy owned by Lib Dem MP Layla Moran.
Sir Lindsay, MP for Chorley in Lancashire since 1997, also has a tortoise named Maggie – because like Margaret Thatcher she has a hard shell and is not for turning – and a parrot called Boris who talks a lot. Attlee joined the Hoyles two years ago after the death of their cat Patrick who was named after former Tory MP Lord Patrick Cormack. His favourite spots when he is back in Chorley include the bathroom sink so he can catch drops of water from the tap.
There are a fair few cats in Westminster. Keir Starmer added a kitten called Prince to his family this summer, while Larry has been Downing Street’s resident cat since David Cameron was in No10. Palmerston, the Foreign Office’s resident cat, retired from mousing duties in 2020 to “spend more time relaxing away from the limelight”. The black-and-white rescue cat, who has more than 105,000 Twitter followers, arrived from Battersea in 2016.
Sir Lindsay said: “There’s nothing better than seeing a cat. We should definitely have more in Parliament. I’d love to see a bring your pet day.” Having nine lives in politics certainly would come in handy.