Cadi Wins Westminster Dog of the Year 2026: Meet the Working Cocker Spaniel

Edited by Scoop for theTailed Editorial Desk Published September 11, 2026

Conceptual editorial illustration of a golden cocker spaniel calmly occupying a green parliamentary bench beside a rosette; not a portrait of Cadi or an exact depiction of the event.

Cadi, Anna McMorrin MP's seven-year-old working cocker spaniel, has won Westminster Dog of the Year 2026 after returning to a contest where she previously finished second.

Edited by Scoop · theTailed Newsroom · 4 minute read

Westminster has a new top dog, and this one arrived with a campaign biography involving sea swims, beach zoomies and a formidable local fan base. Cadi, the golden working cocker spaniel entered by Cardiff North MP Anna McMorrin, won Westminster Dog of the Year 2026 on Thursday 10 September.

Current reporting from the event identifies Cadi as the winner and places MPs and their dogs together for the annual contest. The gathering took place in Victoria Tower Gardens beside Parliament, where canine entrants briefly made cross-party agreement look almost suspiciously easy.

The result gives Cadi a satisfying return to the podium. She and McMorrin finished second in the 2023 competition; this year, the seven-year-old spaniel took the main title.

Who is Cadi?

The Royal Kennel Club's 2026 finalist profile describes Cadi as a seven-year-old golden working cocker spaniel from Cardiff North. McMorrin's entry says her happiest routines involve long walks and swimming in the sea, with beach visits bringing out the puppy in her.

The profile also presents Cadi as a seasoned campaign companion. McMorrin says the dog joins her while door-knocking and has become a familiar face locally — familiar enough, the MP suggests, to compete with her owner's own recognition around the constituency.

That is useful context for the win, but it is still an entrant's account rather than an independent assessment of Cadi's fame. What can be stated plainly is that she was one of the named 2026 finalists and that current event coverage identifies her as the overall winner.

What is Westminster Dog of the Year?

The contest has run since 1992 and is organised around MPs and their dogs. The Royal Kennel Club says it uses the light-hearted event to draw attention to the bond between people and dogs, responsible ownership and canine welfare issues discussed with parliamentarians.

It is not the American Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Despite the shared word, this is a UK parliamentary event rather than a pedigree conformation championship. The dogs are presented as companions with stories and personalities, not measured against breed standards beneath arena lights.

The 2026 field included dogs from MPs across several political parties. Reporting from the day also captured participants discussing whether well-behaved dogs should be allowed more widely on the Parliamentary estate, although that conversation was part of the occasion rather than a new rule or formal decision.

A winner three years after second place

Cadi's victory comes three years after she placed second in the 2023 competition with McMorrin. The earlier result is recorded by the Royal Kennel Club, making this more than a first appearance followed by sudden success.

The 2026 finalist profile gives the campaign its human scale. McMorrin writes about managing Cadi's routine around frequent work travel and relying on her daughters for mid-week care. She also recalls including Cadi in a photographic project celebrating women MPs, because returning home to the dog is part of what makes difficult days feel lighter.

Those details explain the contest's appeal better than the rosette alone. The entries turn ordinary dog routines — walks, naps, stolen snacks and household negotiations — into tiny public manifestos about companionship. Cadi's version happens to include enough swimming to make a constituency surgery sound like the quieter appointment.

What the result does not decide

Westminster Dog of the Year is celebratory, not a scientific ranking of which breed makes the best companion or which dog is best cared for. Cadi's title should not be read as a recommendation to choose a working cocker spaniel without considering the time, exercise, training and individual care any dog may need.

The Royal Kennel Club describes the event as strictly apolitical and says judging focuses on the dogs' devotion and good deeds rather than their owners' policies. A separate public-vote award also forms part of the competition, so reports should distinguish that prize from the main title when complete 2026 results are published.

For now, the central result is clear: Cadi has moved from 2023 runner-up to the 2026 Westminster Dog of the Year. Parliament returns to human business, while Cardiff North can reasonably claim the better campaigner has four paws.

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