An Unrefrigerated Iceberg Lettuce Outlasted UK Prime Minister Liz Truss And It Became A Huge Meme
Inspired by a column in the Economist, which described Truss as having “the shelf-life of a lettuce”, the Daily Star set up a livestream to test the statement.
On Oct. 14, as political and economic instability threatened Liz Truss’s position as prime minister of the UK, British newspaper Daily Star decided to put the question “Will Liz Truss still be Prime Minister within the 10 day shelf-life of a lettuce?” to the test.
Inspired by a column in the Economist, which described Truss as having “the shelf-life of a lettuce”, the Daily Star set up a livestream to test the statement.
The newspaper bought a £0.60 (US$0.68) iceberg lettuce at a local grocery store, gave it a blonde wig and googly eyes and placed it unrefrigerated next to a clock and the British flag.
On Thursday, the public got their answer, with the lettuce emerging victorious as Truss announced her resignation in a speech in front of 10 Downing Street, making her the shortest serving prime minister in the country’s history.
She had run under the promise to stop insurance costs and corporate taxes to rise.
Her economic plan, unveiled in September, promised one of the biggest tax cuts in British history, but also indicated more spending funded by borrowing money.
Food prices, living costs, and mortgage prices are expected to rise across the UK.
Almost 20,000 people tuned in to the lettuce livestream on Thursday, which celebrated Truss’s resignation with swirling disco lights and a recording of “God Save The King”.
People on social media did not hesitate to congratulate the lettuce.
“Lettuce rejoice,” the Daily Star wrote on the livestream. There definitely was no shortage of lettuce puns on social media too.
The Daily Star even projected an image of the lettuce onto the UK House of Commons.
Truss has promised to remain in office until a successor is picked within a week, an extraordinarily short turnaround for electing a party leader, which usually takes several weeks.
And the candidates are quite promising to say the least.
