“Power is permanence. Impermanence is impotence!”
Sir Humphrey Appleby
Prime Ministers come and Prime Ministers go but everyone knows that the real power in No 10 Downing Street isn’t the PM or the Cabinet but rather the Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.
The current incumbent in that official appointment in Her Majesty’s Government is named Larry and whilst he’s had a rather chequered reputation for actually ridding No 10 of mice and other vermin and lacking much of a work ethic or killer instinct, he’s certainly managed to hold his office in these turbulent times.
This in spite of challenges such as another cat named Freya being brought in as a mouser in a job-sharing arrangement before he saw her off in 2014 as well as the political turbulence of the Brexit referendum and the aftermath.
The news cameras caught Larry walking toward that famous black lacquered door in Whitehall and gaining admittance on the Boris Johnson’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night that saw a significant majority of the Cabinet resign and ultimately bring down his chaotic premiership.
The fact that he’s now well on the way to outlasting three Prime Ministers during his tenure and may well add to that total given the dearth of quality candidates on offer to replace Boris shows just who the real power in No 10 is.
