Joe Lycett fires epic parting shot at Liz Truss after PM’s resignation
Comedian Joe Lycett backs Liz Truss to run in the Tory leadership race. (Stringer/Rob Pinney, Getty Images/Ollie Millington)
Self-declared “very right-wing” comedian Joe Lycett has once again trolled Liz Truss after she resigned as prime minister.
Lycett memorably came out as right-wing in an appearance on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg on 4 September, launching a tongue-in-cheek assessment of Truss as definitely not the “backwash” of the Tory party.
Lycett’s satire sparked outrage among right-wing papers – it even made the front page of the Daily Mail as the leadership race drew to a close.
Now, just days after Lycett proudly revealed that he’d had the Daily Mail front cover framed, the comedian has poked fun at Truss again as her time in office ends.
After Truss confirmed on Thursday (20 October) that she has offered her resignation as prime minister, and that the Conservative Party will hold a leadership election to choose her successor within the next week, the comedian was among the first to offer his thoughts.
“Omg just heard there’s a leadership election nxt week?????” he tweeted at Truss. “U shud run babe youd be perfect!!!”
. @trussliz omg just heard there’s a leadership election nxt week????? u shud run babe youd be perfect!!! 💝💫💥
— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) October 20, 2022
Lycett has spent Truss’s short time in office as her biggest (and most sarcastic) cheerleader.
He congratulated her when she was first announced as the new prime minister, 45 days ago, in a tweet.
“Yes [Liz Truss] absolutely smashed it babe!” he wrote.
He continued his support with a tweet reading “hold ur nerve babe u got this xoxo” after the pound tanked following the mini budget that doomed her administration.
When chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was sacked from his position by Truss, in a bid to save her own neck, he tweeted Truss again: “Omg cant believe he was also part of the anti-growth coalition babe!! SO right to get rid!!!”
It’s perfect 🖼😍🤭 https://t.co/5xHuGoR32z pic.twitter.com/KVdjVQeFkI— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) October 18, 2022
With her resignation, Truss will become the shortest-serving prime minister in UK history, a record previously held by George Canning who served for 119 days before dying in office in 1827.
Truss said outside No 10 on Thursday: “I recognise given the situation I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party.
“I have therefore spoken to his majesty the King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.”
The party will now launch a rapid leadership election, with a new prime minister set to be installed within a week, the UK’s third leader in two months.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has called instead for a general election, stating that the Tories do not have the “consent” of the population to install another leader.
“The Tories cannot respond to their latest shambles by yet again simply clicking their fingers and shuffling the people at the top without the consent of the British people,” he tweeted.
