No Tussauds waxwork for Starmer over fears he won't be relevant in five years
Madame Tussauds has revealed it will not be making a waxwork of Keir Starmer – as they can't be sure he'll be relevant for long enough.
Until recently, the popular London attraction made a model of almost every British Prime Minister and placed them beside a replica of the famous door to Number 10 Downing Street.
But after a rapid succession of leaders in the past few years, that tradition appears to have come to an end.
A spokesperson for Madame Tussauds told Metro: 'We have no current plans to make a figure of the British Prime Minister.
'As is the case with the world of modern celebrity, the political landscape is fast-moving and unpredictable, so we really have to consider our figure choices carefully.
'It can take up to a year for us to create a figure – from initial measurements to the unveil on attraction floor – so we expect each one to remain popular and relevant with the public for five to ten years.'
Downing Street declined to comment, saying the decision is a 'matter for Madame Tussauds'.
The last PM to grace the floor of the renowned Baker Street wax museum was Boris Johnson, who was first immortalised as a dummy in 2009 during his term as Mayor of London.
Before him, both Theresa May and David Cameron were honoured with their own smooth replicas.
There was a brief hiccup for the three-year term of Gordon Brown – in an extremely noughties reality-show-style twist, Madame Tussauds asked the public in 2008 to vote on whether he should get a waxwork before the next election. A crushing 83.8% said no.
Every other Prime Minister since the site opened in 1884 had been depicted. Even leaders of the opposition got a model until 2002, when Iain Duncan Smith was elected Conservative leader.
A particularly catty spokesperson for the wax museum told the Times: 'We want figures who will inspire strong emotions and provoke strong reactions.
'In our view Mr Duncan Smith, who most people have never even heard of, is unlikely to achieve either of those feats. Ever.'
The shift away from British PMs appears to have understandably begun with Boris Johnson's brief successor Liz Truss.
If it had taken a year to make her likeness, it would have been unveiled around ten-and-a-half months after she handed over the Downing Street keys to Rishi Sunak. More Trending
In other words, you could fit seven full Truss terms into the time it would take to make a single wax Truss.
However, Madame Tussauds has not strayed away from politics altogether. Former US President Barack Obama can be found in the Royal Palace section of the museum.
There's also at least one Labour politician in the collection – current London Mayor Sadiq Khan unveiled his model in July last year, a couple of months after he was re-elected for a record third term.
But when it comes to relevance and popularity, most would struggle to compete with the unlikely latest addition to Madame Tussauds, revealed last week: a Greggs sausage roll.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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