Andy Burnham has told BBC Panorama that his dog Axel will not be moving to 10 Downing Street, and would probably not get along with Larry the cat, who has lived there for fifteen years.

Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg in an interview broadcast on BBC One, the Mayor of Greater Manchester said Axel, a poodle-mix, would be staying in Greater Manchester. Asked whether the dog and Larry would be friends, Burnham said he did not think so.

The interview, called "Andy Burnham: The Laura Kuenssberg Interview," was shown on BBC One at 20:00 BST on Monday 27 July 2026. It was also available on BBC iPlayer from 06:00 that morning. The BBC published a short video clip on its website with the headline "My dog Axel 'wouldn't get on' with Larry the cat, says Burnham" BBC News.

The remarks came from Burnham's own interview for Panorama, not from social media or a casual comment to reporters. That matters because formal broadcast interviews are taken more seriously in political journalism than quick remarks to the press or posts online.

Larry the cat has been at Downing Street for fifteen years, outlasting several prime ministers. He is a small but regular part of the Number 10 backdrop. Anyone moving in — or, like Burnham, someone often talked about as a possible future resident — tends to be asked about him, usually in the lighter side of the news.

The broader context here is that Panorama interviews are carefully planned. The BBC chose to highlight the dog-and-cat exchange in its promotional material, leading its online video coverage with it. That suggests both the broadcaster and Burnham's team thought the light-hearted moment was worth sharing, alongside whatever serious topics the full interview covered.

In Westminster, a long Panorama interview often produces several news stories in one day. Lighter items are sometimes released first to build interest before the full programme airs in the evening. The Axel-and-Larry clip did that job on 27 July, appearing on the BBC News website before the programme was shown.

Burnham is the Mayor of Greater Manchester and does not currently hold a seat in Parliament. Any talk of him moving to Downing Street is hypothetical at this stage, so his dog staying in Greater Manchester is about a possibility, not a confirmed move.

Larry, for his part, remains in post.