Starmer plans to ‘move a dog’ into No 10

Sir Keir Starmer is planning to bring a dog to Downing Street to help ease his son and daughter into life in No 10, it has been reported.

Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, claimed that Sir Keir had promised a dog to his teenage children – something which the incoming prime minister hinted at during the election campaign.

In an interview with Times Radio earlier this week, Sir Keir was asked whether he would follow Boris Johnson by moving a dog into No 10.

Laughing, Sir Keir said: “Well, this is a campaign of the kids. Again I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but our kids have been on a campaign to get a dog for a number of years now and they’re ramping up in the final days of this campaign, so we’ll see.

“Obviously, I just hope they don’t get hold of the footage or listen to this interview, because they’ll be using it as evidence towards their campaign.”

Asked whether his children had “already identified a breed”, he replied: “We’ve been through all that. German shepherd is the current favourite – although there’s a range of possibilities, so we shall see. But as I say, I’m getting into dangerous territory now because if my boy and girl get hold of this footage, I’ll be confronted with it when I get back to them.”

In 2019, Mr Johnson brought Dilyn – a Jack Russell-cross puppy acquired from a rescue charity – into Downing Street.

He later revealed that the dog was unable to contain his “romantic” urges and was constantly “on people’s legs”.

When Liz Truss moved into Downing Street, she spent her first weeks in the job “itching” because “the place was infested with fleas”. In her memoir, she said there were claims that the infestation was down to Dilyn, “but there was no conclusive evidence”.

Rishi Sunak also brought a family dog – Nova – to Downing Street, with his wife Akshata Murty, revealing that the fox red labrador retriever had experienced some “heated exchanges” with Larry the Downing Street cat.

Family dogs are a common fixture in the US White House. Barack Obama acquired a Portuguese Water Dog named Bo for his daughters, after promising to get them one during his election campaign. In his victory speech, he told them: “You have earned the puppy that is coming with us.”

Meanwhile, Commander, Joe Biden’s dog – a German shepherd, like the Starmers’ favoured breed – has caused controversy by repeatedly biting US Secret Service agents.

Sir Keir has spoken about his concerns for how his children would adjust to the Downing Street limelight. Earlier this year he said it was “the only thing which keeps me up at night” about being Prime Minister.

“They are 13 and 15,” he told Sky News in January. “Those are difficult ages – it will impact them. We don’t name them in public. We don’t do photographs with them and they go to the local school.

“I am desperately trying to protect them in that way, but I know it is going to be hard and I do worry about that.”