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Cat Evicted From 10 Downing Street Dies


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Humphrey, the cat who shared 10 Downing Street with two British prime ministers but was evicted by current resident Tony Blair, has died. He was aged about 18.

Blair's office said late Sunday that Humphrey died last week at the home of a civil servant who had adopted him.

The black-and-white stray wandered into Downing Street in 1989 when it was occupied by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, and was named in honor of Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Machiavellian civil servant in the sitcom "Yes, Minister."

He remained under Thatcher's successor, John Major, but moved shortly after Blair took office in 1997, prompting a Conservative lawmaker to ask in the House of Commons for assurances he was still alive.

Blair's wife Cherie denied reports that her dislike of cats was responsible for Humphrey's eviction. Officials said Humphrey was suffering from a kidney complaint and needed a quieter home in the suburbs.

In his heyday, Humphrey appeared regularly in the media, and once narrowly avoiding being squashed under the wheels of President Clinton's bulletproof Cadillac.

His death prompted newspaper tributes to the feline with a knack for keeping Downing Street free of mice. "Political world mourns a killer named Humphrey," said The Times.

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