Head of lettuce outlasts U.K.'s Liz Truss in viral tabloid gag

published 20 October 2022

If you think your day is off to a bad start, well, at least you're not short-lived U.K. Prime Minister Liz Truss, whose extremely-truncated tenure was outlived by a well-dressed head of lettuce.

The embattled Truss resigned from her position as leader on Thursday, after her policies triggered economic turmoil and inspired rebellion within her Conservative party. She served for just six weeks.

But independent British tabloid The Daily Star has been preparing for this moment since at least Oct. 14, when it shared a livestream titled "Can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce?" The popular video, reportedly inspired by a quip from The Economist, per The New York Times, originally featured a photo of Truss next to a bland head of lettuce purchased at a Tesco grocery store for about 68 cents, per the Times. The leafy green was later dressed up with eyes, a smile, and a floppy head of blonde hair, among other gags.

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Of course, the lettuce won out in the end. After she resigned, "[s]omeone flipped the photo of [Truss] face-down on the table, colorful lights swirled, and a recording of 'God Save the King' played on repeat as nearly 20,000 people watched live," the Times writes.

As of 10 a.m. ET Thursday morning, the stream also featured some celebratory alcohol and a few fruit and vegetable friends to keep the lettuce company. The text "This lettuce outlasted Liz Truss" was plastered in big letters onto the screen, just above the ticker: "Breaking: The lettuce will make a speech to the nation at 18:00."

LIVE: Can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce? - YouTube

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Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.