Battersea Dogs & Cats Home is running their annual competition to decide which cat among the cats owned by parliamentarians has caught the hearts of the public the most. It’s an opportunity to use Language such as “the fur is flying” and the “cat-idates” and “manifurstos”. So which cat has the best manifursto? Well even I know about the Speaker’s cat, Patrick. Patrick has been in the news before. He’ll be hard to beat because he’s currently the most high profile cat among parliamenarians. Larry at No. 10 does not qualify for the competition because he is not “owned” by the Prime Minister.
Battersea list all the “cat-idates”:
- Bertie, submitted by Stephen Hammond, MP for Wimbledon
- Charlotte, submitted by Stephen Doughty, MP for Cardiff South and Penarth
- Collar, submitted by Maria Caulfield, MP for Lewes
- Hattie, submitted by Jamie Stone, MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
- Hobbes, submitted by Wendy Chamberlain, MP for North East Fife
- May, submitted by Baroness Blackstone, Labour peer
- Patrick, submitted by Lindsay Hoyle, MP for Chorley and Speaker of the House of Commons
- Poppy, submitted by Jack Brereton, MP for Stoke-on-Trent South
- Rojo, submitted by John Nicolson, MP for Ochil and South Perthshire
- Toby, submitted by David Simmonds, MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner
This is the sixth year for this competition. The shortlist is impressive and competition will be fierce. The competition is particularly relevant this year because it is the year of the coronavirus pandemic when people have been and are still working from home. This includes Members of Parliament.
And we all know what happens when you work from home when you live with a cat. They want to help you. They get involved in your work by sitting half on and half off your computer keyboard. Or if you are in the middle of a Zoom conference, as I’m sure many MPs have been over the past six months, they are likely to creep into frame. No doubt they been trying to raise their profile in this competition.
Last year, Alfie won the competition. He lives with former Cynon Valley MP Ann Clwyd. He is called the current Purr Minister. He will hand over the title on October 27. Voting closes at 11:59 on 22nd October. You can vote by clicking on this link where you can review the candidates. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 27th October.
