Lettuce Rejoice in the Downfall of Liz Truss? Humour, Ontological (In)Security and the Politics of Ridicule

The article provides a critical analysis of the social and political function of humour, memes and cartoons about Liz Truss. While the apparent tone of the humour works in line with a long tradition of comic resistance in the UK, whereby jokes ‘punch up’ against the elitist, tax cutting, self-interested (yet incompetent) Tories, we note an overwhelming concern with Britain’s standing in the world. Truss’ short tenure was widely portrayed as a national humiliation that would exacerbate post-Brexit decline. Drawing from the critical literature on ontological (in)security (OS), we identify a series of humorous efforts to stabilise British identity through laughter and mirth. Crucially, we revisit OS themes of status, status withdrawal and shame to argue that there were important disciplinary elements in Liz Truss humour. The politics of ridicule relies upon a general – if unstated – agreement that the butt of the joke has broken a series of ‘social rules’ the restoration and maintenance of which is then achieved through laughter. In this case, we argue, imperialist narratives of global standing, gendered ideas of political rationality and financialised conceptions of the state’s (limited) role in political-economic governance were (re-)founded in Liz Truss’ ‘hilarious’ downfall.