Our lettuce outlasted Liz Truss, British paper declares, as PM quits
- The stunt was inspired by a column calling the prime minister ‘iceberg lady’ and saying she had a shelf life comparable to the vegetable in question
- More than 20,000 people viewed the live stream as Truss resigned, then turned to social media to congratulate the lettuce
To the strains of Britain’s national anthem, a UK newspaper on Thursday declared a lettuce the victor in a race to see if it could outlast Liz Truss, after the under-fire prime minister resigned.
The tabloid Daily Star set up a live feed on Friday showing the unrefrigerated iceberg next to a photo of Truss, asking readers: “Which wet lettuce will last longer?”
The stunt was inspired by a column in The Economist that referred to the prime minister as an “iceberg lady” (in contrast to “Iron Lady” Margaret Thatcher, Truss’ political role model), and said she had “the shelf life of a lettuce”.
The video originally showed a picture of Truss next to an analogue clock, and a lettuce.
It later expanded the tableau, adding a wig, a face and grasping hands to the vegetable, as well as two British flags, a pasty on a plate and a red mug bearing the legend “Keep Calm and Carry On”, a slogan used to raise morale in Britain during World War II.
More than 12,000 Twitter users were watching the feed as Truss announced her resignation outside the prime minister’s Downing Street residence.
Moments later, as viewer numbers hit 21,000, “God Save the King” rang out as a hand reached across the table and set Truss’s photo on its back and the caption “The lettuce has outlasted Liz Truss” appeared.