Ah, bonfire night. A time to get toasty by the fire, snap pics holding sparklers, lose your teeth to toffee apples – and if you’re feeling really bold, maybe even set fire to a historical figure. You heard that last bit right, and this year will be no different.
A huge, ten-metre-tall effigy of former prime minister Liz Truss will be burned at Edenbridge bonfire night in Kent this Guy Fawkes Night on November 5. Setting alight effigies of public figures is a long-standing tradition of the Edenbridge Bonfire Society, whose previous displays have featured Katie Hopkins and Donald Trump.
The Liz Truss ‘guy’ depicts the ex-PM holding a cardboard box full of belongings, including a copy of the Guinness World Records, a leaving card, a depiction of the government’s ‘mini-budget’, a £115,000 cheque, a Donald Trump-esque red cap with the words ‘make Britain great again’, and a t-shirt with the slogan ‘I am a fighter, not a quitter’.
A laughing lettuce is sitting on the shoulder of the Truss effigy – a nod to The Daily Star’s infamous livestream in which an iceberg lettuce ‘lasted longer’ than her reign in office. Ouch.
Edenbridge Bonfire Society has run the event in Kent for 20 years. It will commence with a huge procession through the town at 6.30pm, complete with marching bands and carnival floats, and lead up to the burning of the effigy at the very end.
The society is a non-profit, and aims to raise £5,000 for local charities through the event. You can find out more here.
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