Freya (born April 2009) is a

tabby cat A tabby is any domestic cat (''Felis catus'') with a distinctive 'M'-shaped marking on its forehead; stripes by its eyes and across its cheeks, along its back, and around its legs and tail; and (differing by tabby type), characteristic striped, d ...

owned by the former

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

of the United Kingdom

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

and his family. Freya went missing from the Osbornes' house in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

when she was just a few months old, and after searching West London for her, the family assumed she had died or had become lost. In June 2012, Osborne's wife received a call telling her that Freya was alive, and the family brought her home. In September 2012, Freya shared the role of

Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office is the title of the official resident cat at 10 Downing Street, the residence and executive office of the prime minister of the United Kingdom in London. There has been a resident cat in the British government ...

with the Downing Street cat

Larry Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence (given name), Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American arti ...

. In November 2014, Freya was retired from the position to the Kent countryside.

Career

On 16 September 2012, Nigel Nelson from ''

The People The ''Sunday People'' is a British tabloid Sunday newspaper. It was founded as ''The People'' on 16 October 1881. At one point owned by Odhams Press, The ''People'' was acquired along with Odhams by the Mirror Group in 1961, along with the ' ...

'' reported the Prime Minister

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

had sacked Larry from his position as

and installed Freya instead. Nelson revealed that Cameron had become fed up with Larry's laziness. Cameron decided to replace Larry when he refused to move from his chair to chase a mouse on September 13. Nelson explained, "The final straw came on Thursday when Mr Cameron caught Larry cat-napping on his chair in his No.10 study as another mouse scurried across the room. When he tried to wake Larry to do his duty one eye opened but the moggy wouldn't budge." Cameron drafted in Freya to patrol Numbers 10, 11 and 12 Downing Street as she is a "tougher" and a "more street-wise predator." Freya was reported to be the more dominant cat over Larry and a more effective mouser, reportedly because her days as a stray had "hardened" her. Freya has become one of 100,000 cats employed by the Government to keep the number of mice down. On 16 October 2012, police had to break up a fight between Larry and Freya outside Number 10. Rosa Prince from ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' reported that Freya "appeared to have the best of the confrontation". The

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

's spokeswoman stated that Freya and Larry were able to "co-exist" and added that she would not comment further on the two cats' adventures. In May 2014, Freya strayed over a mile from Downing Street and had to be rescued and returned by a charity worker. In August 2014, Freya was hit by a car in Whitehall and was subsequently treated by a vet. George Osborne said he was "very grateful" to those who came to the aid of his pet. Following these events, Freya was sent to the Kent countryside to allow her to exercise her desire to roam.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freya (cat) 2009 animal births Individual cats in England Individual cats in politics Working cats

Career

See also

References