Cuddling a lamb, posing outside what at first sight looks to be a derelict church, and adding no context other than the greeting ‘Happy Easter’, has attracted an astonishing 2.7 million views for former Prime Minister Liz Truss on X, formerly Twitter.
It is fair to add the same photo posted by Ms Truss to her political Facebook page has gone rather better, with one student in Bangladesh telling her warmly ‘Jaya Śrī Rāma’ which, roughly translates as ‘Glory to Lord Rama’.
And another student, this time from Nigeria, wished her ‘Happy Easter – my favourite England prime minister’. He added, reassuringly, “everything will be ok”.
If nothing else the photo demonstrably answered the question posed by The Guardian yesterday which headlined a profile of the Norfolk MP “she still carries an aura of spectacular failure: why hasn’t Liz Truss gone away?’.
Ms Truss – former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; MP for South West Norfolk – as she reminds those tuning into her Facebook profile – is keen to show she’s not leaving the political limelight anytime soon.
We made the replacement oak ‘trusses’ for that beautiful church!
— English Brothers Bespoke Self Build (@BespokeFrames) March 31, 2024
And by popping into a constituency village – Beachamwell – and posing outside the parish church which is rising magnificently from the ashes of a horrific fire two years ago, it had clear Christian calendar context.
Did she also obscure another possible context and that of political ‘death’ and resurrection?
Since losing office – her period of 49 days as prime minister was the shortest of any in British history – Ms Truss believes everyone but herself to be responsible for her downfall and that her status and standing has been unfairly sullied.
It’s a beautiful village. We were so happy to be involved with the restoration. pic.twitter.com/txLiqKivOb
— English Brothers Bespoke Self Build (@BespokeFrames) March 31, 2024
The stay-at-home ‘Twitterati’ has been having a field day over the quintessentially English photo of a lamb chosen by the former prime minister to relay the briefest of Easter messages.
“Did she just find a lamb near an abandoned church and pick it up, or did she bring the lamb to the abandoned church specifically,” wrote one commenter.
Take your pick from these, selected at random.
Baa humbug!
Pyjama photoshoot outside a closed church with a rustled lamb.
Is this satire?
Is that a symbolic lamb for the slaughter, representing all of my pension values?
The state of that church is what you did to Britain.
You’ve been LAMBasted for this picture Lizz
Having your picture taken outside a boarded-up church on Easter Day is a lovely metaphor for what you did to the country
Lizzy had a little lamb, It really was terrific, But when they let her be PM, The outcome was horrific.
FACT FILE
- St Mary’s church, Beachamwell, is being repaired after it was engulfed in flames two years ago when a spark from a welder set alight the thatched roof.
- Her constituency Conservative association love her, describing her as a “self-styled ‘Disruptor-in-Chief’, Liz is not afraid to speak her mind, and believes liberating people to start and grow businesses without burdensome red tape is the key to our economic future. She has argued strongly against the Big State policies of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, which she believes will damage choice, innovation, and prosperity’.
