Democracy, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, is a "government of the people, by the people, for the people". Just when democracies appear to be under the most intense of pressures, one man from London has decided to embark on a democratic pilgrimage of sorts.
Two years ago, inspired by his daughter's studies in politics and philosophy at the University of Nottingham, Nicholas Elliott, 54-year-old university technology learning officer from London, visited Westminster, the British parliament.
He did not intend for an unassuming visit to the House of Commons to unleash a passion that has taken over the past two years of his life.
Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies is Elliott's 34th stop on his journey through the world's democracies on the occasion of 17 October's European Heritage Day.
In a warm and jovial exchange shortly following his visit to the Chamber, the proud father of two spoke to RTL about his journey, borne out of a renewed love for life, quizzes, and civic duty.
Elliott shared that it was a health scare that inspired him to take on this journey, having experienced a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a mini stroke, about three years ago.
"It changed my life [...] and I thought this is my second chance to live", he explained with a big smile.
Visiting parliaments may now be a passion for Elliot, but it was never part of the plan.
A quiz enthusiast with a new perspective on life, he took his hobby to the next level by appearing on British daytime television, including The Finish Line with Roman Kemp, and narrowly missed out on appearing on the second series of hit show The Traitors.
He recalled visiting Westminster largely at his mother-in-law’s urging, admitting he only really agreed to it because of his love of quizzes.
"I said, yeah, I’ll go with you, but I wasn’t that interested in it. But I found it helped my knowledge for quizzes", he said.
During his visit, Elliott realised that parliaments are a one-stop shop for knowledge on culture, history, and politics.
He then convinced his daughter to visit Belgium's many parliaments: "Then after that I got the bug", he exclaimed.
When asked what his first memory of democracy is, Elliott replied with what many people can relate to – kitchen table politics: Sitting around a table with your family to talk about education, immigration, the world.
That's when, Elliott said, people start getting influenced: "Your dad votes Labour, so you'll vote Labour." But he now advocates for making up your own mind independently.
"I've always been a curious person. I've always wanted to know more; I wasn't happy with somebody just saying, that's the way it is", he said, and it's mainly politicians he pointed the finger at.
Some may say that democracies do not work as illiberalism is taking root across the world; even in Elliott's home of the UK, Nigel Farage's far-right Reform Party is an example of a worrying pattern.
But Elliott believes that not to be the case and he thinks the problem is a disengagement between the people and their politicians.
Referring to what he dubbed "click politics", he called out people's need for quick results clashing with the lengthy processes of lawmaking.
This is why he fervently encourages people to go and visit parliaments.
Elliott places the blame in part on social media and the lightening-speed at which people can source any kind of information.
Certain politicians have even amassed huge followings creating asymmetries in the political informational landscape: "Farage at one point had the biggest TikTok following as an MP", Elliott noted.
Honing in on youth and their future, Elliott laments how young people feel unheard and that adults do not listen to them anymore.
The only thing they can resort to is activism like in France, he thought.
He candidly shared a story of his youngest daughter, who is going to be 14 soon. He was stunned to see how easy social media is to navigate for children as well as how much exposure social media can offer.
One video his daughter posted on TikTok drew in a whopping 6.4 milion views. "We didn't know she was doing it", he explained, still somewhat in shock. "We had to take it away from her and we try to restrict the hours."
While still concerned about social media, he is not in favour of an outright ban on social media for youth. Platforms like YouTube can be a rich source of learning in Elliott's eyes.
However, he warned that traditional linear news sources are verified and fact-checked, which is not a guarantee for news sourced purely from social media influencers and personalities.
"Most of the time, I don't mean this crudely, but they haven't studied what they're talking about. They're just people who have an opinion", he said about the likes of Candace Owens or Charlie Kirk.
Everyone has an opinion, Elliott explained, and people have always had an opinion, the difference now is that what would once be an alcohol-fuelled rant by George down the pub heard by five people can now be amplified to millions of people across the world, with the potential of birthing an entire movement, for good or for bad.
Elliott was in the Grand Duchy at the invitation of the Chamber of Deputies, to attend its open day as part of European Heritage Days.
Before he spoke about Luxembourg, he could not hide his heartbreak over the UK's exit from the European Union: "When I look to the EU flag I want to hug it and take it home with me."
Elliot observed that the Chamber was rather small, though he pointed out that the House of Commons is also fairly compact.
With only 60 MPs, he added, it made sense for Luxembourg’s parliament to be small too.
Elliott also got to meet sitting MPs who he noted appeared humble and approachable: "They didn't look like MPs, they just seemed like normal people. And that was kind of cool!"
Elliott spoke highly of smaller countries he had the chance to visit as they're always welcoming, Luxembourg included.
Elliott was also asked about the importance of languages in a country as linguistically diverse as Luxembourg, which has three official languages and requires those applying for citizenship to learn Luxembourgish.
He wholeheartedly agreed on the importance of protecting a country’s culture, having himself learnt Polish through his Polish wife, with whom he plans to move to Poland in the future:
"If I'm going to live in a country, I want to learn the language, I've travelled to 61 different countries in the world. And I've seen how small languages can get eroded [...] and if you lose that, you lose your culture. Everyone speaks English anyway."
On his favourite parliamentary visit: Elliott didn't hesitate to reply with Jamaica, his father's home country.
Elliott visited Jamaica for his father's birthday and decided that while was there he could tick off another country on his list.
He got in touch with the Carribean island's parliament and scheduled a visit, but Elliott's 79 year-old mother refused to let him go on his own.
"My mum doesn't understand what I do, I don't understand what I do. My journey has become this kind of beast I can't control anymore", he joked.
While Elliott's mother was a little worried to travel into the "big" capital, she left in awe of the special treatment she received from parliamentary officials in Kingston.
"All the senators and the speaker said, welcome to Mr. Elliott from England, and then welcomed my mother, 'Mrs. Elliott'", he said, "no other Parliament has done that for me".
His mother, though not originally from Jamaica, has long been involved in civic work there, and seeing her recognised for it made him immensely proud.
"This is the reason why I do it", he affirmed.
Elliott will continue his journey through the world's parliaments, but he wants to take it to another level.
Following a successful application to Churchill Fellowship fund, Elliott will receive project funding dedicated to the civic engagement of young people.
Most importantly, Elliott wants the youth to have influence. His self-titled approach, the "LPIF" method stands for Learning; Parliament; Influence; and Feedback.
Democracy matters at any and every age, and Elliott's story and mission is only ever more proof of the small but meaningful impact that can grow from a little curiosity and heaps of inspiring enthusiasm.
Listen to Nicholas Elliott and his daughter on this week's episode of The Lisa Burke Show on RTL Play.
