Larry the cat is set to outlast his sixth Prime Minister - is the UK ungovernable?
With his seventh owner in 10 years, even Larry the Cat may start to wonder about the turbulent times in Downing Street.
With the UK set to have its fifth Prime Minister in four years, there has been one reassuring constant in Downing Street amongst the turbulence - Larry the cat.
The 19-year-old feline - who is still going strong despite rumours of ill health - is set to outlast his sixth Prime Minister when Sir Keir Starmer stands down next month.
Andy Burnham, if he does replace Sir Keir, will be the seventh occupant of No10 with Larry at his side as the chief mouser to the Cabinet Office.
The moggy was adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2011, intended as a pet for David Cameron’s young children.
At his final Prime Minister’s Questions in 2016, Mr Cameron confirmed that Larry was a civil servant and would be remaining in Downing Street.
During his 15 years in No10, he has played an important part of the diplomatic service and met more foreign leaders than anyone other than the King.
Larry has been petted by Barack Obama and Emmanuel Macron, and took a snooze under Donald Trump’s official car, nicknamed The Beast.
He’s made friends with everyone from Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky to Australia’s Anthony Albanese.
But with his seventh owner in 10 years, even Larry may start to wonder about the turbulent times in Downing Street.
That’s not only down to Axel the rescue dog that Mr Burnham will likely be bringing to No10.
Prior to Larry’s arrival in 2011, there were seven Prime Ministers in almost 40 years - going back to Huddersfield’s Harold Wilson in 1974.
A combination of Brexit, self-inflicted mistakes and an electorate inpatient for change has led to that famous black door turning into a revolving one.
Commentators have questioned whether the UK is becoming the modern Italy, a country once a laughing stock around the world due to the rapid change of its leaders.
There are a few factors at play, which have meant Prime Ministers have struggled.
Firstly, economic growth, or the lack of it, since the financial crash starting in 2007 has meant Britons do not feel like they’re getting better off.
This is reflected in the number of Prime Ministers over that time, with Mr Burnham becoming the eight in 18 years.
Coupled with a succession of big shocks over that period, from Covid to the war in Ukraine and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz - it has felt like a never ending cost of living crisis.
There has been the uncertainty of Brexit that took over British politics from 2016 until the country finally left the European Union in 2020.
While the referendum vote brought down David Cameron and the torturous negotiations with Brussels and her backbenchers took down Theresa May, the discontent amongst voters is still damaging Prime Ministers.
Ultimately, MPs lost faith in Sir Keir after a disastrous set of local election results in May, which saw Labour lose swathes of councillors to Reform in primarily Leave voting areas.
In Yorkshire, Labour lost control of Barnsley, Wakefield, Kirklees, Bradford and Calderdale - all areas which strongly supported Brexit.
South Yorkshire Mayor Oliver Coppard told The Yorkshire Post that “that is something I still don’t think we have quite reckoned with in this country”.
Reflecting on the 10th anniversary of the vote to leave the EU this week, he said: “There are too many people who have felt the system is working against them.
“The system that has been prosecuted by politicians of every stripe of government since arguably the late 1970s early 1980s hasn’t worked for places like South Yorkshire or large parts of it.
“Those people said this might not be a better idea but frankly I’ve got very few options to send a message to the Government, and I’m going to take this opportunity to say this isn’t working for me.
“That is something I still don’t think we have quite reckoned with in this country - how can we make the system work for people in places like Goldthorpe or the Dearne Valley?
“Places that got huge amounts of benefits from the EU but voted in their droves to leave.”
Another change in UK politics that has upset the applecart has been the move to a multi-party system.
In the early 2010s, Ukip’s success forced David Cameron to call a referendum to try settle the European debate within the Tory Party once and for all.
While more recently, the rise of Reform and the Greens helped put the Conservatives and Labour on life support.
However, amid all these turbulence, we can’t look past the continued mistakes, errors and gaffes made by the occupants of No10.
Luke Tryl, UK director of More in Common, argues that blaming voters “is a cop out”.
“The reasons for five Prime Ministers in six years is that all of them stuffed up in avoidable ways,” he says.
For Boris Johnson, it was partygate, Liz Truss, the disastrous mini-Budget that spooked the markets, and Rishi Sunak continued to make gaffes, like not showing up to the D-Day anniversary, right up until the election.
On Sir Keir, Mr Tryl says he “failed to ever connect” and “boxed himself in with an unnecessary tax pledge which made governing painful, and instead led to having target popular groups like farmers and small businesses”.
Mistakes include accepting freebies, axing the winter fuel payment and then U-turning on it and appointing Lord Peter Mandelson as US ambassador despite knowing his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
The pollster argues that Mr Burnham has the chance to give Labour a rehearing and if he can make people feel change then he could have real appeal.
Otherwise, Larry will have an eighth owner to look after in no time at all.