Liz Truss, a British Conservative politician, resigned as Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party on Thursday, Oct. 20, after just 45 days in office. She will remain as Prime Minister until her successor is named and will leave 10 Downing St. as the shortest-serving Prime Minister in the history of the United Kingdom. She is dethroning George Canning who previously held the title after serving for 119 days before dying of tuberculosis.
In a statement read outside of Number 10, Truss told the British public and international onlookers that she had informed the new king she was resigning. The news came just a day after telling Parliament she was “not a quitter.”
Truss’s time as Prime Minister was certainly unprecedented as Queen Elizabeth II passed away after 70 years on the throne two days into her time in office. Her first major task was to lead the nation through the period of mourning and enter a new era of monarchy. Things took a chaotic turn after a disastrous “mini-budget” sent borrowing rates up and tanked the British pound. She fired her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng and replaced him with Jeremy Hunt, but it was not enough to prolong her time in office.
Many politicians on both sides called for her resignation but nothing captivated audiences quite like the Daily Star and its 60 pence lettuce from British supermarket Tescos. The news outlet set up a live stream on Oct. 14 featuring a wig-wearing head of lettuce and a framed picture of Liz Truss.
Viewers eagerly watched as the lettuce took the internet by storm and tensions rose in the House of Commons. By Thursday, Liz Truss had resigned and the lettuce, now representing the odd hilarity of the situation, was just slightly brown. With the addition of flags, disco lights and the national anthem, the lettuce celebrated its bizarre victory of outlasting the Prime Minister.
While many Brits took a similar and traditionally British comedic route to deal with the news, others shared their exhaustion at the thought of a fifth Prime Minister in six years. Another Prime Minister will be put in office, once again, via selection by the Conservative Party rather than an election from the people. One Twitter user, seemingly talking directly to the Conservatives, also known as the Tories, said “You’re a joke. General. Election. Now.”
This moment marks yet another time of confusion for Brits; since the 2016 European Union referendum also known as ‘Brexit’, every Prime Minister has resigned. The divisive vote to leave the EU has continued to elevate tensions between Conservative and Labour politicians. Despite having left the EU in early 2020, many feel the current crisis to be in direct relation to that fateful 2016 decision.
Labour Leader Keir Starmer is relentlessly calling for a General Election. Polling currently indicates a Labour majority of 396 which would be a drastic shift from the 12-year Tory rule. Polls show Conservatives losing a historic 360 seats in the Houses of Parliament clearing the way for a left-leaning Labour government.
The Conservative Party is ignoring these calls and plans on choosing a new party leader who will become the next Prime Minister. Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister who resigned after a handful of scandals, may have a real chance at a second time in office. While Truss’s time in office was remarkably short it will certainly have a lasting impact on British politics and the Conservative Party, and may eventually find itself as a pub trivia question.