From kids to a new cat: Who exactly will be moving into Number 10 with Keir Starmer?
It looks like Larry the cat is getting a friend!
Keir Starmer has just made his first speech as Prime Minister outside 10 Downing Street after winning a landslide victory in the General Election. He met with the King before heading to Downing Street with his wife, Victoria Starmer and is now meeting with his party to appoint the cabinet. But who else is joining him in Number 10 Downing Street?
His wife
Keir Starmer will be joined at number 10 by his wife, Victoria Starmer. Victoria is very private, having never done an interview, and according to Keir that’s not about to change.
Like her husband, Victoria trained as a solicitor and they met through work. But she now works for the NHS in occupational health, and apparently loves it, the PM said in an interview with the Mirror.
“I get a direct line of sight on a daily basis into the challenges of the NHS and the morale of the staff,” he said. She will “absolutely” carry on working for the NHS now her husband is Prime minister he told The Times: “She wants to and she loves it.”
Victoria has been very absent from Keir’s campaigning but they recently went to the Eras Tour together at Wembley.
Keir described their first meeting while on Piers Morgan’s Life Stories in 2020. “I was doing a case in court and it all depended on whether the documents were accurate. I asked my colleagues who actually drew up these documents, they said a woman called Victoria, so I said let’s get her on the line.”
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He said he heard her mutter: “Who the fuck does he think he is?” before hanging up. But he then asked her on a date to a pub in Camden. That was in the early 2000s and they married in 2007.
His kids
Keir and Victoria have two kids together, a 16 year old son and 13 year old daughter. But their names are not known to the public and they have never been photographed, in attempt to keep them out of the spotlight.
Speaking before his win, Keir said he would be “fiercely protective” of them if the family moved into 10 Downing Street after a Labour victory. Speaking to journalists on the campaign trail on Wednesday, Sir Keir said: “I have talked about the concern I have about my children.
“I don’t want to overly talk about my children because I don’t want to bring them into this – that’s the very thing I’ve been trying not to do. Look, it’s not easy if you’re 16 and 13-and-a-half to go through big changes in your life if that’s what happens, and so, you know, they’re understandably at an age where this is very impactful on them, which is why I’ve been so fiercely protective of them for many years now and will continue to try to be so.
“That’s just a very personal thing that I owe them.”
He has admitted, however, that he never works past 6pm on a Fridaym in order to spend time with his family, something which has recently earned him criticism, being labelled a “part-time Prime Minister”.
Jojo the cat
The Starmer fam also has a rescue cat called Jojo who will now be moving into Downing Street. The new Prime minister recently told the BBC that the family’s cat “is given far more respect than I am” at home. I need Jojo pics please!
But what about Larry the cat?
As Starmer announces his first cabinet, confirmation of the one individual staying put: pic.twitter.com/pLkAYPu5by
— Larry the Cat (@Number10cat) July 5, 2024
So it appears Larry the Downing Street cat is here to say and has a new friend in JoJo! Keir Starmer is Larry’s sixth Prime Minister.
Larry the Cat was born a stray in 2007 and rescued from Battersea Dogs & Cats Home in 2011. He holds the title of Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office. During a 2016 Prime Minister’s Questions, David Cameron explained that Larry is a civil servant and not the personal property of any one individual.
He actually has official duties as well, with the Downing Street website stating he “spends his days greeting guests to the house, inspecting security defences and testing antique furniture for napping quality”. It reads: “His day-to-day responsibilities also include contemplating a solution to the mouse occupancy of the house. Larry says this is still ‘in tactical planning stage’.”
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Featured image before edits via YouTube.