Liz Truss or Lettuce: Who Will Wilt First?

LONDON — As support withers for Prime Minister Liz Truss of Britain, so does the ball of lettuce.

Purchased at a Tesco grocery store for 60 pence (68 cents), the lettuce has become a caricature of the Conservative leader’s flailing hold on power, pitted against the prime minister by The Daily Star, a left-leaning British tabloid.

“Will Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?” the newspaper asks in a live video that has been running since Oct. 14, attracting bounds of viewers and comments on social media.

The lettuce gag was inspired by The Economist, which noted on Oct. 11 that between a near-immediate political implosion at the beginning of her tenure and the 10 days of mourning after Queen Elizabeth II died, her grip on power amounted to seven days, or “roughly the shelf-life of a lettuce.”

To be compared directly to lettuce is one of many indicators that Ms. Truss has had a nightmare turn as Britain’s leader since the Conservative Party elevated her in September to replace Boris Johnson. Her proposed tax-cut plan so alarmed voters and the markets that she was forced to reverse herself and fire her top ally, leaving many to wonder if she would be pushed out just weeks after she started.

The Daily Star took The Economist’s joke and ran with it, plopping the lettuce on a table next to a framed photo of Ms. Truss. The lettuce was later given a glow-up, featuring a blonde wig, glasses and Mr. Potato Head-like feet and hands, while it was surrounded with crackers and a mug. At one point the lettuce wore an eye mask to get some rest, and on Tuesday the newspaper declared in a front-page headline: “Lettuce Liz on Leaf Support.”

To many of the newspaper’s readers, it was a ludicrous statement befitting of a ludicrous moment.

Thus far, the lettuce has not wilted in its six days in the spotlight. Lettuce can generally stay crisp for about seven to 10 days — though that’s typically the life span of refrigerated lettuce, not a head that’s been sitting out on a table and wearing a wig.

The political life span of Ms. Truss is less certain. Pressure on the prime minister has steadily grown but she has fought back demands that she resign, declaring on Wednesday in a session of prime minister’s questions in Parliament that “I am a fighter and not a quitter.” It was a brutal showing, with fierce questioning from opposition lawmakers, but one that analysts said was not a knockout blow.

News outlets have been practicing live-video gimmickry since 2016, when Facebook Live was the tool of choice. Notably, in a video that attracted copious copycats, BuzzFeed commanded the attention of millions who watched two employees put nearly 700 rubber bands on a watermelon until it exploded.