Newsnight used Rihanna’s 2008 ballad “Take A Bow” to play a brutal opening montage with Prime Minister Liz Truss after she resigned yesterday (October 20) – watch the clip below.
In a statement outside 10 Downing Street, Truss announced that she would step down as Prime Minister after six weeks in office. She thus becomes the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom with the shortest term in history.
BBC Two’s current affairs program Newsnight kicked off last night with a minute and 45 second video summarizing Truss’ turbulent and short tenure. It started with black and white footage of the Prime Minister’s speech at this month’s Conservative Party conference.
Throughout the clip, Truss’s exits and comments match the lyrics of Rihanna’s “Take A Bow.” Viewers see the Prime Minister speaking at the lecture at Number 10 (“You look so silly right now / Standing on my doorstep”) and later apologizing in an interview “for the mistakes made” (” No, tell me you’re sorry because you’re not”).
The montage then shows a series of negative newspaper front pages before Conservative MP Charles Walker lashes out at the “talentless people” at the top of government: “I think it’s a shame and a disaster,” he says.
As Rihanna sings that “it’s over now,” the final shot sees Truss go back to number 10 after her resignation speech: “Go take a bow…” Watch the video in the tweet above .
Meanwhile, Channel 4 News used Taylor Swift’s Blank Space – Truss’s “favourite song” – as the soundtrack to an equally cutting montage.
Some viewers responded on Twitter mocking Truss’s famous crush on Swift, who was photographed with her at the 2019 BAFTA awards ceremony.
Truss, who won the Conservative Party leadership race on September 5, explained that she was leaving office “recognizing that I cannot fulfill the mandate for which I was elected by the Conservative Party.”
It has been confirmed that a leadership election will take place next week. Truss will remain as Prime Minister until his successor is chosen.
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer called for an immediate general election.
Figures from the world of music and entertainment have shared their views on the news of Truss’ retirement.
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