Hello! I am now going to send you a strange request that you will probably say no to! The message came from an news user who had found me on social media. She needed help. She was on an autograph hunt and had to have an address in the UK to send it to. Could she use mine? Yes, she could. It would turn out that the autograph was a little out of the ordinary. Political earthquake and panic The celebrity in question has witnessed this week that one of his former bosses has been labeled a liar and stripped of all credibility. An inquiry committee in the British Parliament has determined that former Prime Minister Boris Johnson deliberately misled Parliament when he was Prime Minister. Boris Johnson repeatedly misled Parliament when he was Prime Minister, the investigation report finds. Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP It is unprecedented in British politics. A few days earlier, Johnson had dramatically resigned as an MP. Before he proclaimed in the Daily Express that “I’ll be back”. I’ll be back. Another earthquake in British politics, which, according to insider reports, caused panic in Downing Street. But I imagine one resident of the prime minister’s famous street who kept his cool. Who probably lay flat in the sun as if nothing had happened: Larry the celebrity cat. Ministerial mouse hunter Larry has been the stability even in British politics. The 16-year-old has worked as a senior mouse hunter in Downing Street for over 12 years. The cat was taken from an animal rehoming center and chosen because he had an excellent hunting instinct. Also, the children of the then prime minister would like to have a pet. Last year was particularly busy for Larry the cat in Downing Street. As the scandal dubbed ‘partygate’ raged in full swing in January 2022, Larry found peace on a windowsill behind the line of reporters in Downing Street. And when the investigation into ‘partygate’ was completed in May, it was approaching that Larry’s owner number three, Boris Johnson, was forced to resign. But Larry did not let himself be swayed. Boris Johnson was replaced by Liz Truss, who herself had to resign after only a few weeks as Prime Minister. In October, Larry got his fifth boss in sitting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Tom Bradby from ITV reports on it, while Larry in the background wants to go in after a customary air trip. Photo: Gry Blekastad Almås When David Cameron stepped down after the Brexit defeat in 2016, Larry inherited. He has had four more bosses. Three of them last year. All from the same party. There has been no peace to be had. While faithfully sticking to his teaching, Larry has seen Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss come and go. Now the boss is called Rishi Sunak, and he is now fighting to retain authority both within his own divided party and externally in a population that will soon elect its next leader. Meanwhile, “Larry the Cat” has become a phenomenon. The Larry phenomenon The sender of the unusual message I opened this letter with, Merete Sundberg from Kristiansand, had discovered Larry on social media, when she diligently followed the chaos surrounding the aforementioned Boris Johnson. The ministers’ mousetraps have countless profiles on social media, and several of them are advocating that Larry should be promoted. To the Prime Minister. Or maybe king? Merete Sundberg from Kristiansand loves the prime minister’s cat Larry. Photo: Private In the same way that a monarch represents continuity in a changing society, Larry is the stability and calm in Downing Street. Cat cuddles Maybe a bit stable, I thought, when the star favored me with cuddles once I reported from his street. I have met him occasionally and often ever since he moved in as a 4-year-old in 2011, but never had close contact. For now. This time he approached us journalists while we were waiting for NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, who was due to visit the British prime minister. I went to meet him to say hello. Larry, that is. When the revolving door in number 10 shut down and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg visited Rishi Sunak in November 2022, correspondent Gry Blekastad Almås Correspondent got close contact with the super celebrity. Photo: Håvard Blekastad Almås / news – Be careful, said a colleague. He is not very fond of strangers. But Larry might not have had enough cuddles that day. I do not know. At least he let me lift him up. Then I realized how compact he is. I wonder if the eternal political chaos creates a need to be a counterbalance. That he takes it a bit easy. Tory war and revenge Current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised stability, integrity and professionalism when he took the job last October. And there was peace – for a few months. At least compared to the few chaotic weeks with Liz Truss at the helm, and the three years with Boris Johnson, Brexit, pandemic and “partygate”. Now it’s on again. Boris Johnson makes new headlines. Some believe he is politically dead. Others that he has declared war on Rishi Sunak as revenge. When Sunak resigned as finance minister last summer in protest against Boris Johnson’s governance of the country, it was the nail in the coffin for the then prime minister. He was forced to resign. It is not forgiven. Comeback for Boris? The devastating committee report will be debated in the House of Commons over the weekend. But that’s not all the elected officials can do, now that the main character has resigned from all positions. Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak sat together in the former’s government. Now there is full-on war between the two. Photo: Matt Dunham / AP There is speculation as to whether Boris Johnson may stand for election again this summer. By-elections will then be held in constituencies that are considered safer for the Conservative Party than the one he is leaving. Another speculation is that he plans to establish a new party with Nigel Farage, the former leader of the UK Independence Party, UKIP. Expectations for Brexit have come very close to being met, and both of these believe the current government is on the wrong course to make it happen. A third analysis is that Boris Johnson’s comeback plans are more long-term, and that this week’s devastating report may even contribute to the former prime minister’s return to Downing Street. In other words, Boris Johnson has once again become a pain in the ass for Sunak. Scotland’s cat pain Scottish politics is also in pain. I don’t think former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has a cat. No counterweight to the crisis she and her party are in now. She was arrested and questioned for over seven hours last weekend, suspected of money laundering in the Scottish National Party SNP. The former Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is being investigated in connection with money laundering in the Scottish National Party SNP. Photo: RUSSELL CHEYNE / Reuters Two other former high-ranking figures in the party have also been questioned in the same way. One of them is Sturgeon’s husband. All three have been released without charge, but the investigation continues. And the SNP is self-destructing just as the Conservative Party appears to be crumbling from within. Two resigned party leaders are thus shaking up British politics. The aftershocks can be felt for a long time. The cat celebrity’s autograph But in the center of power – or powerlessness – lies Larry, relaxing. He enjoys the celebrity life and signs his autographs. I am now the owner of one. The woman from Kristiansand got me her own cat autograph as a thank you for the loan of her address. The paw tag of the formerly homeless cat is printed on the back of a photo of him. Elegantly placed on a red carpet in one of a series of rooms that reveal themselves behind him in the Prime Minister’s residence. Portraits of past greats watch him from the walls, as if he were the king of Downing Street. It’s when Larry goes missing that we really have reason to worry. This is the image Downing Street sends out to Larry’s autograph hunters. Photo: Downing Street Read more correspondent letters from Gry Blekastad Almås:
ttn-69
Larry the cat is Downing Street’s most stable – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
