On 14 October 2022, the British tabloid newspaper the Daily Star began a livestream of a head of lettuce next to a framed photograph of Liz Truss, who had just become prime minister of the United Kingdom.
This joke was made in response to an article by The Economist that compared the shortness of time of Truss's premiership to the shelf life of a lettuce. The October 2022 United Kingdom government crisis happened just weeks into her term, and many commentators thought that she would resign soon. The lettuce soon became popular for the public. The Daily Star had the lettuce on Cameo, allowing users to get a personalized message "by the lettuce" for £13.
On 18 October 2022, the Daily Star added a pair of googly eyes and a blonde wig on the lettuce, followed by fake feet and hands and glasses to make it look like Truss.
Truss announced her resignation as prime minister on 20 October 2022, before the lettuce had expired. After her resignation announcement, an image of the lettuce was projected onto the Palace of Westminster the same day.