In true British fashion, political outrage is best harnessed through satire.
Shortly after Liz Truss’s ill-fated mini-budget left the U.K bond market in tatters, The Economist published a column on Oct. 11, with a brutal takedown of Truss’s government, dubbing her the Iceberg Lady.
The opening paragraph said since Truss took office on Sept. 6, she had already “secured her place in British political history” in the seven days she was fully in control – seven days is the average shelf life of a lettuce.
“She blew up her own government with a package of unfunded tax cuts and energy-price guarantees on September 23rd. Take away the ten days of mourning after the death of the queen, and she had seven days in control. That is the shelf-life of a lettuce,” it said.
After making the rounds on social media and sparking many lettuce-related puns, U.K. tabloid The Daily Star ran with the analogy and set up a YouTube live stream on Oct. 14 to see if a 60p ($0.65) head of iceberg lettuce would outlast Truss, which it ultimately did, just seven days after the feed was set up.
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The face of the now-infamous Liz the lettuce was even projected onto the Houses of Parliament in London on Thursday evening.
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Poor Liz the lettuce was consumed live on air on Friday morning by TV presenter Jeremy Vine.
Opinion: Britain’s Politics Are in Turmoil. It’s the System Working.
Elsewhere, other broadcasters paid tribute to Truss’s 44-day administration.
Channel 4 News ended the its evening news segment with a highlights reels of Truss’s best bits alongside her favorite song, Blank Space by Taylor Swift.
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The BBC’s Newsnight edited a montage of her time in government with the Rihanna’s song Take a Bow.
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