Both Britain and America flatter themselves that their political systems are admired all over the world. Britain is the home to the “mother of Parliaments”. The United States is the “leader of the free world”. The two countries see themselves as mature democracies; models that other nations can emulate.

But the last few years have shaken that Anglo-American complacency. Britain has suffered the agonies of Brexit and gone through four prime ministers in as many years. The US saw Congress stormed on Jan 6, 2021, in what was essentially an attempted coup by an outgoing president.