A British tabloid on October 14 bets a head of lettuce will outlast Britain's Prime Minister. The newspaper is right: Liz Truss resigns four days before the expiry date.
British Prime Minister Liz Truss has lost a bet she didn't make herself: a head of lettuce from the supermarket that the tabloid "Daily Star" entered into a race against Truss outlasted her.
The conservative politician announced her resignation on Thursday. She broke a record: no prime minister has been in office for a shorter period of time in 300 years. So far George Canning held this title - he officiated in 1827 for almost four months before he died. Like Truss, Canning was a Tory and like them he struggled with a divided party.
The "Daily Star" launched the bet with the head of lettuce on October 14 and set up a YouTube channel for it, which showed a photo of Truss next to the head of lettuce. The action illustrates the level of contempt the politician had to contend with. "Which wet salad will last longer?" the newspaper asked on its front page at the time; "Wet salad" means something like "weakling" or "washcloth" in German. According to the newspaper, the head of lettuce had a minimum shelf life of ten days. Although he doesn't look quite fresh anymore, he would have held out until next Monday.
After Truss' resignation, the British national anthem and "Celebration" by Kool
In a first reaction to Truss's resignation, Labor leader Keir Starmer called for immediate new elections. The Conservatives have shown "that they no longer have a mandate to govern".
The British Conservatives have been in a deep crisis since Truss' predecessor Boris Johnson was in office. The 47-year-old won her office in a ballot with 57.4 percent. The Conservatives have plummeted in the polls and have been behind the opposition Labor Party in all surveys since the end of 2021. However, the gap has only widened dramatically in the last few weeks. The latest surveys see Labor over 50 percent, the Tories only up to 23 percent.
