In Search of a New Culture of Citizenship

on 5 July 2024, Rishi Sunak, the then Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
did something remarkable: he graciously and magnanimously conceded
defeat in the national election, and wished his incoming opponent well:
Whilst he has been my political opponent, Sir Keir Starmer will shortly become
our Prime Minister. In this job, his successes will be all our successes, and I wish
him and his family well. Whatever our disagreements in this campaign, he is a
decent, public-spirited man, who I respect.
People’s impulsive reaction to my describing this moment as remarka-
ble might be one of bemusement or even dismay. “Surely he was doing
exactly what should be expected of the outgoing leader of a democratic
country?” you might ask. “Why should we applaud people for doing the
bare minimum?” “In any case, his speech was merely a ritual intervention
with no real consequences.”
On the contrary, in this short piece, I will argue that, in fact, the cele-
bration of that which we believe ought to be ordinary is exactly what is
required if we are to safeguard democracy: ordinary gestures of conces-
sion; the ordinary act of voting; the ordinary patience and magnanimity
required to listen and respond to the unsolicited opinions of a stranger.
These are in fact quite extraordinary human qualities. And they deserve to
be treated as such. They are indeed rituals – that is, performances through
which people gesture to the way that they believe the world should and
could be (Stacey, 2022, p. 98; 2024, p. 108).