All good things must come to an end, and so must some incredibly shitty things too, which is why UK Prime Minister Liz Truss announced today that she is resigning her position after just 45 days. Truss takes the mantle as the shortest premiership in British history, but like all good stupid things about the country, she also plays a very silly part in Doctor Who history.
Truss’ month-and-a-half position as the head of the current Conservative government and as the party’s leader—after the ousting of former Incredible Hulk lookalike Boris Johnson—has been outlasted by many things, including most notably a lettuce. But she also now holds an incredibly auspicious title, as pointed out by Radio Times Executive Editor Morgan Jeffrey:
The UK has had 13 Prime Ministers (quite fortuitous, that) since Doctor Who started 59 years ago, and even though the show was cancelled in 1989 and wouldn’t return to TV screens regularly until 2005, the airing of the 1996 Doctor Who TV movie, starring Paul McGann, means that then-contemporary premier John Major managed to keep the streak going.
Truss holds this latest embarrassment among many, however, on a technicality. Although the Prime Minister announced her resignation to King Charles III and the British public today—three days before the airing of “The Power of The Doctor,” the final episode of Jodie Whittaker’s tenure as the 13th Doctor—Truss will remain in power until a new leader of the Conservative Party is decided upon, with a result expected by Friday, October 29.
Still though, it’s very funny.
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