It was a wild year in the world of politics

From the shortest-serving prime minister in history to Matt Hancock appearing on I’m A Celebrity – you’d be right in thinking politics went wild this year.

However nightmarish it may have felt, consider it a badge of honour that you made it through 2022.

As it’s New Year’s Eve we thought it only right and proper to unpick some of the weirdest political moments from the last 12 months.

Let us pray 2023 has a touch more strength and stability than the chaos of 2022.

‘Boris Johnson’ appears outside a Jobcentre after his resignation

People were left a bit puzzled (Picture: PA)

Boris Johnson is a bit like marmite – people either love him or hate him.

So when a wax figure of the man himself appeared outside a Jobcentre in Blackpool following his resignation as prime minister, it certainly got the town talking.

Made by Madame Tussauds, the doppelganger shows ‘Boris’ posing with his hands on his hips along with the famous mop of blonde hair.

Locals and visitors were quick to take snaps and selfies with the former PM, who was ultimately forced from Downing Street after a tumultuous premiership of scandal and sleaze.

Liz Truss bust

Do you think the bust is realistic? (Picture: PA)

In the latter part of 2022, No 10 became a bit of a revolving door. Next to take the hot seat in September was Liz Truss, our shortest serving prime minister.

Unlike Boris, she wasn’t known for her charisma, but will forever be known for sending the markets into meltdown with her Thatcheresque economic policies.

She was one of the most unpopular PMs to date, and inspired Wilfrid Wood, known for his work on TV show Spitting Image, to immortalise her face in plasticine.

Complete with striking features including a ‘stand out’ forehead and ‘thick neck’, it took Wilfrid a day to complete.

He said at the time: ‘It is hard to say what was the hardest to sculpt. It’s more like what is the easiest? What stands out?

‘Her forehead stands out, her cheekbones, her eyebrows are often very, very high on her forehead, which is quite big anyway, and then she’s got quite a small mouth and quite a thick neck.’

Which Truss is the right Truss?

People were getting a bit confused over the different names (Picture: Reuters)

When Liz Truss became prime minister, an unexpected woman soon became Twitter famous for sharing the same Twitter handle as the former PM.

Liz Trussell had the Twitter handle @liztruss and it led to lots of confusion.

She was even sent congratulatory messages from VIPs including Sweden’s prime minister Magdalena Andersson.

Liz Trussell replied to Ms Andersson by tweeting ‘looking forward to a visit soon! Get the meatballs ready’ before the original tweet was deleted.

Another hilarious quip from Ms Trussell included her response to a Twitter user who berated Ms Truss for showing an ‘absence of class’ for ‘blanking’ Rishi Sunak when she won the Conservative leadership competition. To which she said: ‘Sorry I was in Nandos.’

A lettuce outlasts Truss

It was a battle that defied all the odds (Picture: Daily Star)

In what was arguably one of the most astonishing political moments of 2022, a lettuce managed to outlast Liz Truss as prime minister.

It all started when the Daily Star set up a livestream on October 14 to monitor if the lettuce would do better than the prime minister, posing the question: ‘Which wet lettuce will last longer?’

When the lettuce claimed victory, the newspaper posted: ‘All hail the lettuce.’

The lettuce reveled in its political triumph, as a blonde wig placed on it, and the framed image of the PM was placed face down on the desk.

It was a full on party with all the other vegetables as disco lights shone and a mini bottle of pink prosecco and miniature gin surrounded the veg.

The lettuce was even beamed onto Parliament, staring in contemplation across the Thames.

Robot Rishi

It felt like Rishi acted like a robot when he made his first speech to the nation

When Rishi Sunak first took to the podium to address the nation as prime minister, it felt like Trussbot 2.0.

In a short televised statement of just 183 words, he said he was ‘humbled and honoured’ to be elected as leader as the Conservative Party, saying it was ‘the greatest privilege of my life to give back to the country I owe so much to’.

But many watching were not impressed, dubbing him ‘Robot Rishi’ or the ‘Rishbot’.

‘I don’t want to alarm anyone but I think Rishi Sunak has been replaced by a robot,’ one tweet among hundreds read.

Hancock enters the Australian jungle

It was like watching an episode of Black Mirror (Picture: James Gourley/ITV/Shutterstock)

From health secretary to campmate celebrity – if there was ever a ‘what the f**k moment’ from 2022, this was it.

The MP for West Suffolk said he entered the jungle to spread more awareness about dsylexia, which he suffers from.

But the former minister appeared rather preoccupied with advertising his new book ‘Pandemic Diaries’.

There was lots of anger from within his own constituency, with Andy Drummond of West Suffolk Conservative Association saying: ‘I’m looking forward to him eating a kangaroo’s penis. Quote me.’

Despite this, the nation seemed to enjoy watching him eat kangaroo genitals, winning stars for camp, and take part in the celebrity cyclone, as he ended up coming third.

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It is a year no one will forget in a hurry.