How A Head Of Lettuce Outlasted Ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss

Anyone who has British friends or who is a fan of British comedy will agree that satire, sarcasm, irony, and absurdity are the pillars of British humor. As GB Mag puts it, nothing is off limits, including high-ranking government officials and the Royal Family. It should come as no surprise that its former Prime Minister Liz Truss's last week in office was measured in the lifespan of a head of iceberg lettuce.

The idea was first sparked by the venerable publication The Economist, which had pointed out that because of a series of events like the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the short-circuiting of her country's economy with an ill-thought-out economic plan Truss was only in charge for seven days. This was equivalent to the lifespan of a head of lettuce, the publication pointed out before slapping Truss with the nickname "The Iceberg Lady."

And "cos" the label was too difficult to resist, British tabloid Daily Star decided it would pit the hapless Truss against a googly-eyed head of iceberg lettuce, per The Washington Post. A simple question was posed: "Can Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?" The contest was shared via Twitter.

It didn't take long for fans to buy into and "romaine" invested in the contest since the Daily Star had also put up what it called a "live lettuce cam" on YouTube so people could watch the political events unfold. The Daily Star went on Twitter from time to time to remind fans that there was something to look forward to, even as Britain's politics unraveled into chaos. Even U.K. betting shop Ladbrokes got into the act and originally put the odds of the lettuce beating Liz Truss at 4/5, per The Daily Star.

It was not long after the paper published headlines such as "Lettuce Liz on Leaf Support," "PM's salad days are over Cos her credibility flatlines," "Her tax plans and energy aid hit an Iceberg," and "She Romaines hiding from MPs in Party" per Twitter, that Truss finally threw in the towel.  The Daily Star lettuce declared its victory by projecting its image on the wall of Westminster Hall. Among those that stepped up to congratulate the lettuce was Aldi UK, who took to Twitter to say, "What a great day to be a lettuce."

The lettuce may have cemented its place in British politics. As the Daily Star tweeted,  "Sauces close to the Daily Star Lettuce have shed some light on its political future," but it has not yet said whether it will stand in a general election.