The great offices of state in the UK government need several things, not least an imposing headquarters and a team of diligent civil servants. But now, it seems, there is another necessity: an official, social media-friendly cat.
Gladstone, a black, 18-month-old, short-haired cat, is officially ensconced at the Treasury, following in the pawsteps of Downing Street’s Larry and Palmerston in the Foreign Office.
Like his predecessors, Gladstone’s official job is that of mousecatcher, but he arguably plays just as important a role as a cuddly PR emblem for an otherwise austere government department.
While Larry and Palmerston have their own Twitter accounts, Gladstone has made his official debut on Instagram where, as treasury_cat, he already has more than 1,200 followers.
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.
“Hello! I’m Gladstone, a charming, 18-month-old domestic short hair,” began the first update, explaining that, like Larry and Palmerston, he has been adopted as a stray from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home.
There has been fevered media speculation in recent days about a supposed jostle for territory between Palmerston and the longer-established Larry. Gladstone’s social media handlers played up to this with a photo of him in a cat carrier.
“Me on my first day at my new home,” the caption said. “The humans had to keep me in this cage in case I ran down the street and tormented some other mouser called ‘Larry’. Personally, I’ve never heard of him.”
Gladstone is named after William Ewart Gladstone, the 19th-century prime minister who served four times as chancellor.
A Treasury spokeswoman said Gladstone arrived on 27 June, but had up till now not been allowed to roam free while he acclimatised to his new home. He is due to be set loose next week.
The Treasury building had a longstanding mouse problem, and the idea of acquiring a cat was put forward by John Kingman, the interim top civil servant at the department until his recent departure for the private sector. Gladstone’s upkeep was being paid for by staff, the spokeswoman said: “He will not cost taxpayers anything.”