Liz Truss has resigned as the British prime minister after only 44 days, making a head of iceberg lettuce in a blond wig the victor in a grimly humous online contest.
In just another day for a completely normal country, the Daily Star has riffed off @TheEconomist and has started a live stream to see whether Liz Truss can outlast a piece of lettuce over ten dayshttps://t.co/2cluX8CICh pic.twitter.com/UxLnyVfYdm
— Sebastian Payne (@SebastianEPayne) October 14, 2022
The British tabloid paper the Daily Star started a livestream on YouTube on Oct. 14 with the title, “Will Liz Truss still be Prime Minister within the 10-day shelf-life of a lettuce?”
Thursday morning, Truss announced her resignation after economic turmoil in the country caused a rebellion in her party and destroyed her authority.
“I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” the 47-tear-old PM said in a brief statement outside her 10 Downing Street office. Truss said she will remain in office until a successor has been chosen. She will be the shortest-serving PM in British history, and is the third conservative PM to resign in as many years.
“We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit. I recognize, though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said. “I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”
Following the speech, the Daily Star’s livestream updated by crowning the head of lettuce and lowering the photo of Truss as the National Anthem played and disco lights flashed.
🇬🇧The British Prime Minister @trussliz officially lost to lettuce, writes the Daily Star. pic.twitter.com/QEdJ1I03ID
— Tommy Tough Knuckles (@breaks_jake) October 20, 2022
Later, the livestream video featured the disco hit “Celebration” by Kool and the Gang, and various reggae songs.
Truss entered office on September 6, and was sworn in as prime minister by the Queen just days before her death. The former Liberal Democrat and pro-immigration Russia hawk was the third woman elected to lead Britain.
Truss ended up overwhelmed by the divisions in her party, and unable to unify the warring factions.
Conservative lawmaker Simon Hoare said the government was in disarray earlier Thursday, the Associated Press reported. “Nobody has a route plan. It’s all sort of hand-to-hand fighting on a day-to-day basis,” he told the BBC.
Truss quit after a meeting with Graham Brady, a senior Conservative lawmaker who oversees leadership challenges. Brady was tasked with assessing whether the prime minister still has the support of Tory members of Parliament — and it seemed she did not.
“It’s time for the prime minister to go,” Conservative lawmaker Miriam Cates said earlier Thursday. Another, Steve Double, said of Truss: “She isn’t up to the job, sadly.” Legislator Ruth Edwards said “it is not responsible for the party to allow her to remain in power.”
Truss’s resignation follows former UK PM Boris Johnson resignation in July after a mass exodus of support from 50 members of Parliament supporting him.
The leading candidates to replace her are Penny Mordaunt, leader of the House of Commons; Rishi Sunak, the former chancellor who was beaten by Truss; and Ben Wallace, defense secretary and former soldier, according to the New York Times.