Liz Truss’s short-lived stint as U.K. prime minister had no salad days.
As the embattled leader resigned Thursday, fans of a head of lettuce that had become a caricature of her flailing administration celebrated – and some even called for the iceberg to take power.
“We don’t have a government, the lettuce might as well be running the country or the tofu,” Labour MP Chris Bryant told the Daily Star, a left-leaning British tabloid that set up a video of the vegetable waiting out the government turmoil.
“Will Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?” the video asked when it was set up Oct. 14, just over a month after the Conservative leader took power on Sept. 6, following Boris Johnson’s resignation.
The stunt was inspired by a comment from The Economist magazine, which said on Oct. 11 that her hold on power was “roughly the shelf-life of a lettuce” after her leadership mandate started to crumble just a few days after she took power.
The video featured the iceberg wearing a blonde wig next to a photo of Truss and a countdown clock. Various coffee mugs, miniature Union Jack flags and other props were added to the livestream each day during the countdown.
On Wednesday, Truss vowed that she would stay in power, but by Thursday, the gig was up, and she became the shortest-serving prime minister in British history with 45 days in office.
“I recognize, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” Truss said in a hastily scheduled statement outside 10 Downing Street. “I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”
As Truss resigned, the video morphed into a party scene, complete with soundtrack of “God Save the King,” colorful lights and the photo of Truss lying face-down.
Nearly 20,000 people watched the live transformation, The New York Times reported. And the video has now been turned into various memes dragging Truss, as seen below:
Truss will remain in office a few more days to handle the transition, but no successor has yet been chosen.
Her departure followed a day of chaos Wednesday after Home Secretary Suella Braverman — the leader of national security — stepped down, the latest in a wave of resignations from the fledgling government leadership, and that was followed by two leaders in Parliament quitting their posts as well.
The leadership breakdown followed the collapse of a series of economic measures aimed at stemming high inflation, and a raucous debate over the possible revival of shale oil fracking.
