Downing Street welcomes new resident cat

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

A new cat has moved into 10 Downing Street, the residence of now British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, following in the footsteps, or rather pawsteps, of previous Westminister cats "Humphery" and "Wilberforce".

"Sybil", named after "Sybil Fawlty", a character in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers, belongs to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, who now lives in residence in a flat above 10 Downing Street (11 Downing Street) itself, having previously lived in Darling's residence in Scotland.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, "The prime minister and Sarah (wife of Brown) do not have a problem with it. I am sure the cat will appear at some point."

The cats at 10 Downing Street are often referred to as the, "10 Downing Street mousers" and are given the job of getting rid of mice. There has not been a cat in residence at the house since 1997, after Tony came to power. There were several rumours that Blair's wife, Cherie, was behind the move.

Have an opinion on this story? Share it!

Sources

Nick Assinder. "No 10 gets new feline first lady" — BBC, September 11, 2007
"No. 10 has its first cat since Humphrey" — Reuters, September 11, 2007
"Sybil the cat moves into 10 Downing St" — Nine MSN, September 11, 2007

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.