Former prime minister Liz Truss has been unveiled as the celebrity “Guy” by a bonfire society in Kent famous for ridiculing public figures in its 5 November celebrations.
Edenbridge Bonfire Society’s 11 metre-high effigy, complete with a laughing lettuce on its shoulder, is clutching a cardboard box containing a leaving card and a copy of the Guinness Book of Records in reference to her record as the shortest-serving PM.
It also contains a copy of her mini-budget, a Make Britain Great Again red cap, a t-shirt with the slogan “I am a fighter, not a quitter”, and a cheque for £115,000 in reference to the perpetual funding provided to ex-prime ministers.
The box itself has a big upside-down U with the words “This Way Up” the wrong way up and the words “Oh Dear Oh Dear Oh Dear Packaging Ltd” referencing the words of King Charles to Ms Truss as she arrived to meet him.
The lettuce on her shoulder, which is crying with laughter, is referring to a livestream of a lettuce run by the Daily Star newspaper which suggested the vegetable would last longer than Ms Truss did in office.
Ms Truss resigned as prime minister just 44 days after taking over from Boris Johnson last month.
The former Tory leader took the decision to step down just a little over 24 hours after she told MPs she was a “fighter, not a quitter”.
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The Edenbridge Guy has become a highlight of the bonfire season with previous people put up for ridicule including John Bercow, Boris Johnson, Harvey Weinstein, Donald Trump, Katie Hopkins, Russell Brand, Jonathan Ross, both of the Blairs, Katie Price, Wayne Rooney, Lance Armstrong, Anne Robinson, and Saddam Hussein.
The society, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to raise more than £5,000 for local charities, has been in existence for more than 90 years.
Winston Churchill is one of several famous figures to have opened the Kent town’s bonfire night celebrations.
