Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick has introduced the world to his Ministry’s new ‘Minister Without Pawfolio’, who joins Saj’s #Number10Dog Bailey as a new breed of departmental canine. With Boris set to adopt a rescue dog too, this new influx of dogs could come to balance out the three famous Chief Mousers. It’s truly a Government of all the tailents…

Guido can reveal that the MHCLG’s dog Spyro actually belongs to an employee and not the department. That being said, until the Boris administration, departmental pets amounted to Number 10’s Chief Mouser Larry, the Foreign Office’s Palmerston, and the Treasury’s Gladstone. But now senior Number 10 insiders tell Guido that ageing Larry is really not feline well and might be on his “last legs”. Adopted from Battersea Dogs and Cat Home in 2011, it is believed Larry was born way back in 2007. He’s the human equivalent of a 70-year-old…

If Number 10’s Chief Mouser is really approaching the tail end of his life, the Government’s dog:cat ratio would change to better reflect national opinion, with YouGov finding that by 48:29 Brits see themselves as dog people than cat people. Is this Lynton’s new dead cat strategy?

UPDATE: Larry responds…

There’s life in the old cat yet!

— Larry the Cat, Esq. (@Number10cat) August 27, 2019