How A Lettuce Outlasted A PM & What Comes Next

It’s on the headlines recently that the United Kingdom’s economy is in a state of instability. So what led up to the current situation, and how did it result in a Prime Minister’s resignation?

Before we get into the topic, what does the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom do? They are the head of the party that won the general election, which, in the UK, takes place every five years. The Prime Minister gets asked by the monarch to form a government. If you want to know more about how the UK government system works, go back and watch the two-part series we made called [A Look Into The UK Government System]. The Prime Minister’s official residence is at 10 Downing Street, more commonly known as No.10, though it’s up to the Prime Minister to decide whether they live there.

Anyways, when understanding what’s happening in the UK, we need to go back nearly two months ago to when then-British PM Boris Johnson, from the Conservative Party, announced a forced resignation. That was due to alleged scandals, including breaking Covid lockdown rules. After his resignation, there was a race within the Conservative Party to replace the former PM. The Conservative Party announced that Liz Truss won the race to No.10, becoming the next Prime Minister. And that’s when things started to go lopsided.

The first setback for new Prime Minister Liz Truss was the heartbreaking death of Queen Elizabeth II, signaling the end of an era that had lasted more than 70 years. It was not only that. The most significant backlash from the public was her economic policies over her government’s “mini-budget.” Finance Minister Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled a £45 billion tax cut budget that resulted in severe criticism. Although almost the entirety of that budget got reversed and sacking Kwarteng, it still caused uncertainty in the UK economy and markets. Not to mention that these markets were already in bad shape ever since Russia’s war with Ukraine had made energy prices soar. Even under pressure, she confidently declared she’s a “fighter and not a quitter.” But the following day, she announced her resignation as British Prime Minister.

Amid all the public controversy, there were still laughable parts. An experiment got proposed by The Daily Star, a British tabloid. Some believed that the Prime Minister’s grip on power was roughly equal to the shelf life of lettuce. A ball of lettuce was purchased and decorated with a blond wig, fake hands and eyes, and a smiling mouth. A live stream of the lettuce next to a picture of Liz Truss attracted the attention of many, all wanting to see who would win, Liz Truss or the lettuce. And finally, after weeks of excitement, the winner got proposed: The lettuce had beaten Liz Truss after she resigned, totaling just 44 days in office! Fans nominated that the lettuce became the new prime minister, with a supposed address to the nation.

After Liz Truss stepped off the stage, the party held yet another inner election. However, some contestants withdrew at the last second, including former PM Boris Johnson, leaving Rishi Sunak to become PM on October 25th, 2022. Sunak had previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (2020-2022) and as Chief Secretary to the Treasury (2019-2020). He had been a Member of Parliament for Richmond since 2015 and became the first Prime Minister of Britain of Indian heritage, a new milestone for the country.

Even though Rishi Sunak has had a comparably brief political career, some say that his experience in finance could help change the current economic landscape. However, Sunak faced fierce opposition in the House of Commons, including an intense bout with the Leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir Starmer of the Labour Party. A mixed opinion from the public formed of whether Rishi Sunak would help u-turn the current economic stance of the United Kingdom, though, in his address to the nation, Sunak has shown confidence that he would fix the “mistakes” of his predecessor Liz Truss.

So what do you think? Are you too confident about the economy of the UK? Or is your opinion mixed? I hope you have learned more about the current situation in the United Kingdom and maybe had a few laughs about the part where a vegetable beat a prime minister. That’s the end of this production from the New News Newsminute. Thank you for reading, and please remember to subscribe and share this article to let more people know and not miss out on future updates.