Larry’s no mouse in scraps with PM’s dog: Chief Mouser comes out on top against Rishi Sunak’s fox red labrador retriever

He has been a fixture outside No 10 for over a decade – serving as Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office under five Prime Ministers.

And now Larry the Downing Street cat has come out ‘on top' in several heated clashes with Rishi Sunak's fox red labrador retriever.

Akshata Murty, the Prime Minister's wife, said the family dog Nova had ‘mixed emotions' about Larry and that the pair didn't always get on.

Nova was brought into Mr Sunak's family in 2021, when he was Chancellor, after his daughters met Boris Johnson's dog Dilyn and asked for their own.

‘Nova has mixed emotions because she sometimes doesn't get on with Larry the cat,' Mrs Murty told Sky News.

‘And they've had some heated exchanges and Larry's come out on top.

‘So she might have some mixed opinions on living here. But, you know, our family is so grateful to be here.'

Mr Sunak originally resisted adopting the dog, according to insiders, but ‘finally gave in' after months of pestering from his children.

Tabby cat Larry, meanwhile, was rescued from the Battersea Dogs and Cats home in 2007, where he has been honoured with a blue plaque.

He was chosen and cared for by Downing Street staff, with the No 10 website saying he ‘spends his days greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality.'

His responsibilities, meanwhile, include ‘contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house.'

Unfortunately for parliament's occupants, this is still ‘in tactical planning stage'.

It's not the first time he has clashed with another Downing Street pet, either – in 2012, police had to break up a fight between Larry and ex-Chancellor George Osborne's cat Freya.