Will Liz Truss Outlast This Lettuce? (Day Seven)

2022-10-20
Closed captions
1959m

The final hours of the Daily Star's puckish political livestream which pitted a head of state against a head of lettuce

Former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss will forever be synonymous with the image of a wilting lettuce, dressed in a wig, with googly eyes and Mr. Potato Head limbs.

By the end of September 2022, Truss was less than a month into her premiership but had a lot of pressure after a drastic mini budget was widely criticised. On 14 October, British tabloid newspaper The Daily Star began livestreaming an iceberg lettuce, purchased from Tesco, across YouTube and Twitter, posing the question “LIVE: Can Liz Truss outlast a lettuce?” By 20 October they had their answer: Liz Truss resigned, the lettuce still intact. Three years later, in 2025 the BFI acquired the Twitter stream of the lettuce, and the UK’s shortest reigning Prime Minister became subject of the longest moving image held in the BFI National Archive.

The audacious satirical stunt was a fast-moving response to political news, yet rolling livestreams have a long history. Since the University of Cambridge’s Trojan Room coffee pot webcam in the early 1990s, live online video streaming has found delight in everyday experiences. From an archival perspective, such long yet ephemeral videos are challenging and at risk of becoming inaccessible.

This broadcast covers day seven into the eighth and final day of The Daily Star’s viral livestream of a lettuce placed next to a portrait of then Prime Minister Liz Truss, with the onscreen caption: “Can Liz Truss outlast this lettuce?”. This broadcast began at 7:44 a.m. on 20 October 2022.

Online Video

From viral memes to video essays, discover highlights from a new BFI National Archive collection...

First came the Cinema Age, then the TV Age, and now the age of Online Video. Digital film created for distribution online is today’s most dynamic, influential screen form. Encompassing much that’s new, from ASMR and Unboxing Videos to Twitch streaming and TikTok twerking, it’s also breathed new life into older film forms, filling our screens with fresh takes on advertising, journalism, satire, public information, campaigning, training and much else that’s been with us since time immemorial, and variously taking the forms of comedy, drama, documentary and animation. It’s become embedded into every aspect of UK (and world) society.

This unique collection of online videos combines iconic highlights of British online video with other examples chosen to illustrate that sheer diversity. All were acquired by the BFI National Archive with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.