Gladstone (born ) is a British cat who was the resident chief mouser to

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London, England. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He is a

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

domestic short-haired cat A moggy is any cat which has not been intentionally bred. Moggies lack a consistent appearance unlike purebred cats that are Selective breeding, selectively bred for appearance conforming to a Breed standard, standard. In contexts where cats ne ...

, who, at eighteen months old, assumed the position of chief mouser in late June 2016. Gladstone's political namesake is former Chancellor and Prime Minister

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, who served for four separate periods, more than any other Chancellor. Gladstone was responsible for catching mice at the Treasury's 1

Horse Guards Road Horse Guards Road (or just Horse Guards) is a road in the City of Westminster, London. Located in post code SW1A 2HQ, it runs south from The Mall down to Birdcage Walk and Great George Street, roughly parallel with Whitehall and Parliament S ...

building. Gladstone retired in 2019. The inception of the position of chief mouser at the Treasury followed the creation of similar positions at

10 Downing Street 10 Downing Street in London is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister of the United Kingdom. Colloquially known as Number 10, the building is located in Downing Street, off Whitehall in th ...

(Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office) and the

Foreign Office Foreign may refer to: Government * Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries * Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries ** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government ** Foreign office and foreign minister * United ...

; those positions being held by Larry and Palmerston respectively, as of July 2016. The decision to introduce an official mouser was taken by John Kingman, former acting Permanent Secretary at the Treasury. The appointment of Gladstone as "Chief Mouser to the Treasury" was officially announced on 29 July 2016. Gladstone was taken to his new home at the Treasury in late June 2016, but the fallout from the referendum on European Union membership delayed the public announcement until late July.

Early life

Gladstone was brought in by a staff member of Battersea Dogs & Cats Home Lost and Found team in May 2016 as a neglected stray, after trying to get into his cat flap for a few weeks. He had been wandering the streets of London, hungry and without a

microchip An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components a ...

, so that his owners could not be located. At Battersea, he was known as Timmy. Like many homeless cats without daily access to food and water, he would eat too much, too quickly. A special activity puzzle feeder remedied this issue.

Career

Within 48 hours of moving in, Gladstone made his first catch. Described as "a cold-blooded killer", he went on to register six catches in his first three months in office. Food for Gladstone is taken care of by Treasury staff, who volunteer the modest sums required for his daily needs. At weekends, the Treasury's facilities and security team look after his domestic needs and personal protection. His employment is at no cost to taxpayers.

Recognition

On 28 July 2017, Gladstone celebrated his first anniversary at

. A few days after his debut on Instagram in July 2016, he had 1,200 followers. As of January 2023, the number is over 22,500, though his Instagram has not seen a new post since February 2020. 'A cat's life – after a year in the spotlight, Gladstone sets the record straight', details his life at the Treasury. As of 28 July 2017, Gladstone's number of mice caught was 22. No update has been given on this number.

Stepping back from duties

Gladstone retired in 2019. An official statement said "He is still alive, happy and well and living with an HMT staff member ... There are no plans to replace him with another cat". In January 2020 he was said to be working from home. In 2021, Peter Cardwell wrote for ''Your Cat'' magazine that "for health reasons, jet-black Gladstone has been out of the Treasury for a few months now in quieter surroundings". The response to a Freedom of Information request in 2024 confirmed that he had retired and moved out; in reply to a question about how many mice he had caught, the Treasury said that finding this out would take too much time and "would exceed the appropriate limit" for responding to Freedom of Information requests.

In popular culture

Gladstone has a social media presence on an official

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

page, and has been reported on by media outlets as far away as

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. A parody account @TreasuryMog, also exists on Twitter. He often receives trinkets such as cat toys,

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

baubles from

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, a personalised collar, and a

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

handmade knitted scarf from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. He appeared on the Treasury's official YouTube site, in 'Where's Gladstone Gone?', for 2016's Open House London, which also appeared on

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

. In March 2017, Gladstone was featured in the London '' Time Out'' magazine's 'Pet Power List: definitive guide to the political animals of

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

References

External links

A cat's life - after a year in the spotlight, Gladstone sets the record straight

'Where's Gladstone Gone?' 2016 Open House London Official Video

Gladstone the Cat Becomes 'Chief Mouser' for the Treasury Video

Gladstone's Official Instagram Page (@treasury_cat)

HM Treasury Officially Announces Newest Staff Member

Pet power list: Time Out's definitive guide to the political animals of Westminster
, - {{s-end 2014 animal births HM Treasury Individual cats in the United Kingdom Individual cats in England Individual cats in politics Working cats