“Lettuce for PM”: Hilarious Liz Truss Lettuce and Cheese memes take over Twitter as British PM resigns 

UK Prime Minister Liz Truss has resigned from her position after 44 days in office. The politician issued an official statement and announced her decision outside Downing Street on Thursday. She said:

“We set out a vision for a low-tax, high-growth economy that would take advantage of the freedoms of Brexit. I recognize though, given the situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”

She further added:

“I have therefore spoken to His Majesty the King to announce that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”

Truss’ sudden resignation immediately sparked a memefest online and prompted netizens to share memes using the infamous lettuce and cheese reference, with many users jokingly nominating lettuce for the prime minister:

According to CNBC, the conservative party is expected to complete a leadership election within the next week in the wake of Truss’ resignation.

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A look into the meaning of Liz Truss’ cheese and lettuce joke

Several years before being elected as the prime minister of the UK, Liz Truss went viral for a 2014 speech involving cheese, pork, and apples. During a conference for the Conservative Party, the-then Secretary for the Environment said:

“In December, I'll be in Beijing, opening up new pork markets!”

During the speech, she also mentioned that she wants Britons to have more “British food”:

“I want to see us eating more British food here in Britain. At the moment, we import two thirds of all our apples. We import nine tenths of all our pears. We import two thirds of all our cheese. That is a disgrace.”

The politician added:

“From the apples that dropped on Isaac Newton's head to the orchards of nursery rhymes, this fruit has always been part of Britain… I want our children to grow up knowing the taste of a British apple, of Cornish sardines, of Herefordshire pears, of Norfolk turkey, of Melton Mowbray pork pies and, of course, of black pudding.”

The speech reportedly elicited a delayed and awkward applause from the audience and soon turned into a viral meme.

Following Truss’ recent appointment as the prime minister of the UK, British tabloid The Daily Star bought a lettuce for 60 pence from a Tesco grocery store and posted a livestream video titled:

“Will Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?”

The lettuce joke was reportedly inspired by The Economist, which compared Truss’ tenure as prime minister with “roughly the shelf-life of a lettuce.” As the newly-elected PM resigned, The Daily Star immediately declared the lettuce as the winner of the challenge:

“The lettuce outlasted Liz Truss”

A viral photo also saw the lettuce decorated with a blonde wig and glasses, as well as hands and feet. The vegetable was placed atop a table surrounded by coffee mugs, crackers, and UK flags.

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Liz Truss’ resignation sparks memefest online

Liz Truss' resignation has sparked hilarious memefest online (Image via Getty Images)

As Liz Truss became the shortest-serving British Prime Minister following her resignation after 44 days in office, hilarious memes took over the internet in response to the situation.

Several social media users also took to Twitter to react to the resignation using cheese and lettuce memes:

As reactions continue to pour in online, it remains to be seen if Liz Truss will address the response to her resignation in the days to come.

Meanwhile, CNBC reported that conservative politician Graham Brady, who oversees leadership votes and reshuffles, said in a statement that he will now look at how leadership elections can include conservative MPs and wider party members.