Lettuce That 'Beat' Truss Gets Its Star Turn in London

It got beamed onto Houses of Parliament Thursday night
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 20, 2022 2:30 PM CDT
Updated Oct 21, 2022 7:48 AM CDT

Update: The story of how a head of lettuce has shown up soon-to-be ex-UK Prime Minister Liz Truss romaines top news. The Independent reports that hours after Truss announced her resignation on Thursday, an image of the now-infamous piece of produce was beamed onto London's Houses of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster. Meanwhile, British comedian Jon Harvey, who plays a character known as "Count Binface" (formerly "Lord Buckethead"), swung at the Truss vs. lettuce contest. "It's very, very, very cruel on the lettuce," he tells the CBC. "Because what it does is it suggests that British produce has a potentially short sell-by date." Our original story from Thursday follows:

It might be the most humiliating example of Liz Truss' historically short tenure as UK prime minister. About a week ago, the Daily Star British tabloid bought a head of lettuce and set up a livestreamed contest to see whether the lettuce or Truss would last longer. The answer came Thursday as Truss resigned. As of Thursday, the lettuce "looked a little bruised, but could still be incorporated into a healthy salad," writes Helen Lewis at the Atlantic. "Sadly, Liz Truss serves no such useful purpose."

As NBC News notes, the lettuce stunt was inspired by a column in the Economist that referred to Truss as the "Iceberg Lady," a play on the nickname of the long-serving "Iron Lady," Margaret Thatcher. The piece further stated that Truss had the political "shelf-life of a lettuce." In a more serious vein, Lewis notes that Truss' resignation illustrates a key difference between British and American politics—"the prime-ministerial system allows political parties to ditch a leader who has become a liability," no matter how short their term. (More Liz Truss stories.)

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