'Lettuce Outlasts Truss': Twitter Reacts to UK Political Crisis With Memes

Twitter was abuzz with jokes amid the backlash being faced by PM Liz Truss over the fumbling British economy.

Liz Truss tendered her resignation as the British PM on Thursday, 20 October.

(Photo: Aroop Mishra/The Quint) 

Comparison with a store-bought lettuce, 10 Downing Street up for rent on Airbnb, and a "ghost PM" tag.

These are just a few of the potshots people have taken at British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who tendered her resignation as the country's PM on Thursday, 20 October.

Truss' image had been marred by dreadful approval ratings owing to her government's drastic, unsupported policy decision to slash taxes, which reportedly lost the country over £60 billion.

Kwasi Kwarteng, Truss' then chancellor of the exchequer and reportedly a good friend of the PM, was fired from his job on 14 October, after 38 days in office, amid the blowback, making him the second shortest-serving finance minister in Britain's history, behind only Iain Macleod, who passed away after serving for 30 days.

Twitter had exploded with jokes and memes about Truss, who became the shortest serving prime minister in the country's history, having not even completed two months in office.

Over the last few weeks, she had been facing calls to step down by the Keir Starmer-led Labour Party and even some of her own party colleagues.

'Who Will Last Longer, Truss or a Lettuce?'

Truss was compared to a lettuce by The Economist, a prominent news journal, as well as an entertainment tabloid called The Daily Star.

The Daily Star even livestreamed a store-bought lettuce, with a shelf-life of around 10 days, next to a photo of Truss, and asked, "Day one: Which wet lettuce will last longer?"

The livestream had attracted hundreds of thousands of views after it was posted on 13 October. For effect, the lettuce was even donned with googly eyes, and sometimes even a wig and an eye mask.

The hashtag '#lettuceliz' also became a popular trend on social media.

As it turns out, the lettuce has lasted longer than Truss did.

Meanwhile, other Twitter users took shots at one of her interviews, in which she had said that she was willing to become an "unpopular PM" for implementing "pro-growth" policies.

Another social media user shared images of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of Britain's PM, up for rent on Airbnb with the tagline "Perfect for short stays".

Comedian Will Sebag-Montefiore also shared a mock video of him interviewing Truss, which has garnered around 50,000 views so far.

On Monday, Truss had admitted that mistakes were made by her government, but said that she would lead her party into the next general election, slated for 2024-25.

"We get it and we have listened," Truss had said amid the backlash.

A Twitter user uploaded a picture of a cartoon character saying the same words in a burning room, highlighting the chaos that surrounded the PM's tenure.

Another dog got in on the act, quoting Truss' line that the slashing of taxes was not a bad policy, but had become a distraction from the real goals of the government.

Truss' decision to step down came close on the heels of the resignation of her home secretary, Indian-origin Suella Braverman, on Wednesday, 19 October, who had penned a scathing letter to the PM.

"Suella Braverman was the shortest-serving Home Secretary for 188 years. Kwasi Kwarteng was the shortest-serving Chancellor for 52 years. Liz Truss can beat that. If she goes before Christmas she'll be the shortest-serving UK Prime Minister ever," a Twitter user wrote.