Three years ago, London teacher Nicholas Elliott sat down at home and suddenly couldn't speak. He felt dizzy, his left arm went limp and one side of his face froze.
His daughter Julia, who was in the room, called an ambulance. It was a transient ischaemic attack (TIA), often called a mini stroke, and Nicholas says it made him a better person.
He decided to see and do everything he could, from daytime game shows to something far more unusual: visiting parliaments.
Since then he has independently toured more than 30 parliaments and legislatures across Europe, North America, and the Caribbean, and this week he and Julia flew into Luxembourg to join me on The Lisa Burke Show.
Why parliaments? For Nicholas, each one is a doorway into a country's politics, history and culture. He has a ritual too: the moment he lands, he jumps in a taxi and asks the driver about the country. Luxembourg gave him a lesson of its own. He paid 40 euros for a cab into the city, only to discover on the next bus that public transport here is free.
The taxi drivers always tell you about the country... and they don't hold back.Nicholas Elliott
Over time, his travels have turned into a mission focused on young people. Nicholas remembers a school trip to Westminster at about 15 that felt like a museum visit, and he wants young people to learn, participate, get involved and, crucially, feed back.
The standout so far is the Northern Ireland Assembly, which runs its own youth parliament rather than leaving it to an outside body. His next project looks to the Caribbean, where legislatures built on the Westminster model are trying fresh ideas, such as Trinidad and Tobago bringing young people from both islands together to discuss the national budget.
Trinidad and Tobago, Belize, and Montserrat have agreed in principle to take part in his research, and Nicholas wants to show what the Caribbean can teach the UK in return.
They're not the future, they are the now.Nicholas Elliott on young people
Julia, who studies Politics and Philosophy at the University of Nottingham, brought the view from her generation. She asked friends studying engineering and maths how they take in politics, and the answer was almost always short-form social media, clipped, algorithm-driven, and prone to echo chambers.
To understand views she didn't share, she spent time watching right-wing American commentators and noticed her own feed drifting further and further in one direction. Many of her friends, she says, simply don't know who to vote for, because the parties seem to have drifted from their ideological roots.
I almost saw it happening to me.Julia Kubianka-Elliott on the pull of the algorithm
Both believe the problem is fatigue rather than apathy. Nicholas misses "kitchen table politics", when families argued about the news together, while Julia argues that in the UK political education comes far too late, only for those who choose it at A-level.
She would like it built into everyday life studies at school, so that politics stops feeling like a subject for the privileged.
Luxembourg's parliament open day gave Nicholas hope: children wandering the building and deputies wearing 'Ask Me' badges, chatting freely with visitors.
You've cracked it here.Nicholas Elliott on the Chamber of Deputies open day
Their parting messages were simple. Nicholas urged parents to sit down with their children tonight and talk, and encouraged anyone feeling isolated to look beyond the phone for information, to clubs, teachers, and community groups.
Julia's advice was to listen with an open mind and turn everyday conversations, gently, towards the things that shape our lives.
You can follow Nicholas's journey as The Parliament Guy on Instagram and on LinkedIn. And if you or someone near you shows sudden signs of a stroke or TIA, such as a drooping face, a weak arm or slurred speech, call 112 in Luxembourg straight away.
As always, I'd love your thoughts: how empowered do you feel as a voter, and what do you make of youth parliaments?
Everyone is a political person.Julia Kubianka-Elliott
