Liz Truss’s premiership has been outlasted by a lettuce.
This is one of the main stories being discussed on social media shortly after the prime minister announced her resignation following just 44 days in office.
Officially the prime minister with the shortest time in No.10 for the entirety of the UK’s history, Truss’s resignation came after a pretty tumultuous time in politics.
The comparisons to lettuce began after The Economist wrote an absolutely scathing editorial about her premiership where – once the national mourning period concluded – it found Truss had only had seven days of calm government.
In the column shared on October 13, it dubbed Truss “the Iceberg Lady” – a twist on the previous PM, Margaret Thatcher, who was known as the Iron Lady.
It also pointed out: “However long she now lasts in office, she is set to be remembered as the prime minister whose grip on power was the shortest in British political history.
“Ms Truss entered Downing Street on September 6th.
“She blew up her own government with a package of unfunded tax cuts and energy-price guarantees on September 23rd.
“Take away the ten days of mourning after the death of the Queen, and she had seven days in control. That is the shelf-life of a lettuce.”
Then, the Daily Star set up a live action cam on YouTube with a real (60p) lettuce next to a picture of Truss to see which would last longer.
The cam was actually set up last Tuesday, rather than at the start of the Truss’s stint in office, but it quickly drew crowds.
Even Labour MP Chris Bryant had joked earlier this week that “the lettuce may as well be running this country”. The Washington Post wrote about the comparison, pointing out both Truss and the vegetable “have an expiration date”.
People can’t believe that the fourth Tory prime minister in six years could not even stretch her premiership a week longer than a vegetable’s entire shelf life.
As The Daily Star tweeted: “Tragic Truss lost the race to see if she could outlast our 60p iceberg as she finally gave up on her attempt to cling to power after days of chaos at Westminster.”
It added that this was all “unbeleafable”.
For many people, it’s the highlight of the entire news cycle.
It also comes after the internet mocked Suella Braverman, the home secretary who was fired this week.
She took aim at the “tofu-eating wokerati” protesters who are striking up and down the country in a bizarre monologue in the Commons on Tuesday. When the cabinet minister resigned the next day, everybody quipped that she just wasn’t “tofu” enough for the job.