Why is the United Kingdom fawning over a head of lettuce dressed in googly eyes and a blond wig? Because it outlasted the country’s newly elected prime minister, Liz Truss, who resigned 44 days into the job.
Truss, who became prime minister on September 6, is the shortest serving prime minister in modern political history. Her resignation follows weeks of political and economic crises after the government introduced a new “mini-budget” that was roundly criticized.
British tabloid Daily Star launched a YouTube livestream on October 14 titled “Can Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?” The lettuce started off with just a pair of googly eyes, but it soon amassed new accessories — like a wig and hands — as talks of Truss being ousted intensified.
When Truss announced her resignation on Thursday, the Daily Star poured the lettuce head a glass of wine and switched on the party lights to celebrate the vegetable outlasting Truss’ political appointment. The stream has amassed close to half a million likes as of Thursday afternoon.
The person chosen as Truss’ successor from the Conservative Party ranks will become the fifth prime minister since the U.K. voted to leave the EU in 2016’s Brexit referendum.