In case you somehow hadn’t heard, Liz Truss stepped down from her role as Prime Minister yesterday in what was a history-making move.
We say ‘history-making’, as Truss did, quite literally, make history during her time as leader of the Conservative Party for officially being the shortest-serving Prime Minister in the history of the United Kingdom after only being in office for just 44 days.
Truss took over from outgoing PM Boris Johnson on 5 September 2022.
During her 44 days as leader, Truss was elected to office during an ongoing cost of living crisis and an energy supply crisis, in which her government – and the former Chancellor she sacked six days before her resignation, Kwasi Kwarteng – implemented an Energy Price Guarantee that limited energy prices for households, businesses, and public sector organisations.
Truss’s government will likely also be remembered for having announced large-scale borrowing and various tax cuts in a mini-budget unveiled on 23 September – which was poorly received, the subject of major backlash from both within the Tory party, as well as from opposition parties and the wider general public.
After the mini-budget announcement went on to cause economic chaos and see the value of the pound plummet, Truss’s new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was then forced to largely reverse a lot of the measures that were set out.
Truss’s time in office also saw the death and state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, which means 10 whole days of her leadership were spent in a period of national mourning.
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Understandably, given the fact that 44 days as Prime Minister is, in a lot of respects, a very short amount of time, the internet has been having an absolute field day working out things that have lasted longer than Liz Truss.
And so, because we could all do with a bit of light relief from what has undeniably been a week (well year, well lifetime, to be honest) of absolute political chaos, we thought we’d round up a list of some of our favourites that we’ve seen knocking around online over the last 24 hours – and we’ve even come up with a few of our own too.
We decided to pick 44 things, one for each day Truss spent in office – of course.
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The Daily Star’s 60p lettuce (still going strong)
Kim Kardashian’s marriage to Kris Humphries (72 days)
The time you’ve got to return something to B&Q (90 days)
Tyson Fury’s retirement (53 days)
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation trial (51 days)
Phinneas and Ferb’s summer vacation (104 days)
The DFS sale (probably forever?)
The average lifespan of a red blood cell (115 days)
Jedward’s time on X Factor
Wagner’s time on X Factor
Chico’s time on X Factor (he actually got to the quarter-final, can you believe?)
How long the Chilean miners were trapped underground for (69 days)
The first COVID lockdown (91 days)
A typical season of Love Island (56 days)
Chris Evans’ time as a host of Top Gear (47 days)
The time ‘Believe’ by Cher spent at the top of the UK charts (49 days)
The time ‘Umbrella’ by Rihanna spent at the top of the UK charts (70 days)
Big Sam Allardyce’s infamous time as England manager (67 days)
The ‘partygate’ scandal (sorry to drag this up again – 164 days)
The average probation period at a new job (up to 90 days)
The longest recorded game of Monopoly (70 days)
My IKEA coffee table (surprisingly still standing)
The lifecycle of a female mosquito (56 days)
How long a jar of mayonnaise lasts in the fridge (60 days, apparently)
Also, this avocado in John Bishop’s fridge (unknown, we’ll have to take his word for it)
Anne Widdecombe on Strictly Come Dancing (70 days)
John Sergeant on Strictly Come Dancing (61 days)
Ed Balls on Strictly Come Dancing (91 days)
Pumpkin Spice Latte season at Starbucks (68 days, give or take)
Vine (1454 days)
The lifespan of a banana from green to bad (45 days)
David Blaine’s famous glass box stunt (44 days – snap)
The London 2012 Olympic torch relay (60 days)
The runtime of every episode of Coronation Street when played back-to-back with no breaks (6 months, apparently)
Christopher Eccleston’s time as the Ninth Doctor on Doctor Who (84 days)
How long the Gallagher brothers have been fighting for (who knows, probably their whole lives? Oasis famously split up in 2009)
Kayne West’s 2020 campaign to be US President (123 days)
The ‘Hundred Days’ war (110 days, the name lies)
Molly-Mae and Tommy Fury keeping their pregnancy a secret (3 months, ish)
The length of time The Queen’s Gambit spent as ‘number 1’ on Netflix (46 days)
How long it takes for your new passport to arrive (10 weeks, if you’re lucky)
Luis Suarez’s 10-game Premier League ban for one of the times he bit another player (151 days)
Larry the Downing Street cat (who knows, longer than any PM – what a legend)
And last but not least – and probably the most shocking.
44. The length of the 2022 Conservative Party leadership race that actually elected Liz Truss as Prime Minister (61 days)
Yes, that’s right, that means Truss was campaigning to become UK Prime Minister for 17 whole days more than she actually spent as UK Prime Minister, which is, honestly, one of the most absurd facts of this whole ordeal.
So there you have it.
Featured Image – 10 Downing Street (via Twitter)
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Manc music legends James announced MASSIVE hometown show
Danny Jones
Greater Manchester music legends James have just revealed a massive hometown show here in the city centre as part of a landmark domestic arena tour.
Daisy bucket hats at the ready.
James is arguably the epitome of what it is to be the understated, underdog British band; they’ve gone about the business of making quality music somewhat quietly for several decades now, but they’ve had a fresh wave of interest over the past year or so
Having opened up for the likes of Catfish and the Bottlemen’s comeback shows, not to mention playing multiple big festival slots in recent months alone, they’ve now announced a huge run of UK arena shows – and nowhere does a James crowd quite like us Mancs.
Details have been announced for our 2026 UK arena tour, and we’re delighted to be joined by very special guests @dovesmusicblog with tickets going on general sale this Friday at 9:30am. Access the ticket pre-sale on Wednesday via our official store: https://t.co/DwpGrAUESZ NBL x pic.twitter.com/A4CWVpCooL
Announced as part of the celebrations around their Nothing But Love ‘best of’ LP, which pulls tracks from James’ whopping 18 studio albums, the new run of UK arena shows in 2026 follows on from numerous noteworthy shows this calendar year.
In addition to the aforementioned outdoor gigs, like their stunning sold-out night at The Piece Hall in Halifax – not too far from frontman Tim Booth’s hometown in Yorkshire – the indie veterans also celebrated a huge landmark in 2025.
Surpassing the milestone of 40 years as a band, with a lineup that’s remained largely intact and only really grown in terms of live session players and touring bandmates.
The new “definitive” greatest hits record also includes two brand-new songs in ‘Wake Up Superman’ and ‘Hallelujah Anyhow’, both of which are produced by Leo Abrahams, who worked with the band on their long-awaited number one album Yummy in 2024 – a feat loooong overdue if you ask us.
As evidenced by the sheer amount of new material they continue to put out and the almost non-stop touring, they remain one of the most prolific artists in the country. FACT.
You can see the rest of James’ upcoming tour dates, including a healthy number of Northern stops in the likes of Liverpool, Leeds and more.
James UK arena tour dates 2026
Fri 2 Birmingham Utilita Arena
Sat 4 Leeds First Direct Bank Arena
Tues 7 Aberdeen P&J Live
Wed 8 Glasgow OVO Hydro
Fri 10 Newcastle Utilita Arena
Sat 11 Liverpool M&S Bank Arena
Mon 13 Cardiff Utilita Arena
Tues 14 Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Fri 17 London The O2
Sat 18 Manchester Co-op Live
With James returning to Manchester for their Co-op Live arena debut next April, along with a sensational support slot from fellow local legends, Doves (I know, how lucky are you lot?!), you can bank on this one selling out quickly.
General admission goes on sale this Friday, 10 October at 9:30am, so you’d better be ready to grab yours in a flash.
You can find the ticket link HERE, and we’ll see you in the crowd for a good ol’ singalong.
Featured Images — Ehud Lazin/Press shots (supplied)
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Electronic icons Kraftwerk announce first Manchester gig since 2017
Danny Jones
Pioneering German band Kraftwerk have announced their first UK tour since 2017, with fans having to wait almost a decade for another Manchester gig.
Thankfully, they’ll be heading back down the Autobahn and across the channel for a return to our shores soon enough with a long-awaited list of British and Irish live dates.
Kraftwerk remains one of the most groundbreaking groups in the electronic scene to this day, having paved the way for generations of new artists to keep experimenting with the genre in the 50+ years since their formation.
Heading back to Manchester early next year, die-hards will no doubt snap these tickets faster than you can say ‘Das Model’.
For anyone unaware of these veritable legends of electronica and the world of alternative/Euro-synth pop, Kraftwerk formed all the way back in 1970 and went on to shape the modern music industry, bridging the gap between music and the digital age.
Best known for tracks like ‘Computer Love’, ‘The Robots’, ‘Pocket Calculator’ and the aforementioned on named after the national motorway network, they spearheaded futurism in the musical landscape from the outset.
It seems only fitting, therefore, that their upcoming highly anticipated return to the UK comes as part of their ‘Multimedia’ tour.
While they have played a number of live shows all over the globe this year, including an extensive run in the US, next spring will be our domestic visit from Kraftwerk in nine long years.
Credit: Press shot (supplied)
You can see the full list of UK and Ireland tour dates – including a handful of Northern gigs – down below:
Spanning a total of 15 UK dates, as you can see, there will also be tickets to see Kraftwerk nearby in the likes of Liverpool and with our mates over in Sheffield.
Kraftwerk legend Ralf Hütter famously played a set inside our city’s velodrome at the National Cycling Centre for Manchester International Festival (MIF) back in 2009, and has collaborated with the event on multiple ocassions.
In fact, that very performance was seen as a turning point for MIF, so the Manc Kraftwerk connection speaks for itself; O2 members can obviously get pre-sale, but general admission tickets go live from 9am this Friday, 10 October.