Liz Truss becomes a trivia question

[redbird]

The question being either "what was the shortest term of a British prime minister? p "who served the shortest term as British prime minister?" or the trickier "how long was the shortest term of a British prime minister?'

Someone in Ireland is probably already taking bets on whether Truss's successor will beat that record. (British bookmakers aren't supposed to take bets on British elections, and this may fall within that.)

Also, the Grauniad has a list of n"shortest-serving world leaders." Two men are tied for shortest, one on a technicality--the Guiness book of World Records is counting the never-proclaimed Louis XIX of France:

He was, apparently king only between the time of his father’s abdication signature and that of his own, both of which were on the same document.

Comments

[calimac]

A lot of news articles have stated Truss's term as the shortest, but that's only if you exclude a couple of border cases: the Duke of Wellington's interim caretaker term (3 weeks in 1834), and the truly abortive term of the Earl of Bath (two days in 1746: sometimes omitted from lists altogether, but it was official).

[minoanmiss]

*snerk*

[sabotabby]

You love to see it.

[therealsnape]

That article was delightful; I love little facts of history like that, and I will not forget Harrison, shortest president, longest inaugural speech. That he may have contracted pneumonia during that speech is a warning for all orators.

[redbird]

When I've read about Harrison, it's often as a cautionary tale: if you're going to be standing around outside in the wintertime, wear a good warm coat. Apparently (I haven't tried checking this) he thought it would look bad to bundle up, in Washington D.C. in March, and was thus more vulnerable to pneumonia.

"Apparently" because there are lots of people who sensibly want their children, and other relatives, to wear a coat if they're going to be outside on cold days, and a story with the moral "this person didn't. because he wanted to look good, and he died of it" can be used to convey that message, better than variations on "I'm cold, put on a sweater."

[cmcmck]

The closest truly comparative one is George Canning who was 110 days as PM before he died in office.

France has three pretenders to its throne

[necturus]

There is a Bourbon ("legitimist") claimant, another from the house of Orleans (another Bourbon branch), and a Bonaparte.

In New Orleans, there is both a Bourbon Street and a Napoleon Avenue. As far as I know this latter is the only street in the United States named for a European dictator.