I was leader of the House of Commons and our nation has 1 superpower | UK | News
Regulars at the Westminster Arms are used to drinking with politicians and famous personalities. Angelina Jolie, Glenda Jackson, Bishop Desmond Tutu and Bill Clinton have enjoyed drinks at this famous bar, just a short walk from the Houses of Parliament. Yet they often tend to stay on the other side of the stick.
Dame Penny Mordaunt, on the other hand, is more than happy to man the pumps as she pulls me a near-perfect pint of Spitfire beer, brewed by England’s oldest brewer Shepherd Neame. If I’m being critical, he may have been thinking a little too hard, but that’s probably because he’s on guard in case Nigel Farage, another frequent visitor to the Westminster Arms, wanders off in the pouring rain.
Built on the eve of the First World War, the pub is literally located opposite Westminster Abbey; here Penny, Leader of the House of Commons in 2023, King George III. He carried the ceremonial Sword of State at Charles’ coronation. The dress and hats she wore to the ceremony, which she helped design, drew admiration from around the world, including the leader of Reformation UK, who said she looked like a “Roman goddess”.
Shaking our beers, Penny and I head downstairs to the restaurant. We’re here to discuss the Sunday Times bestseller Pomp & Circumstance, co-authored with Chris Lewis; A thoughtful, surprising and often humorous examination of the traditions, values and rituals that underpin British life.
“Our traditions are our superpower, especially in these very difficult times,” the former Foreign Secretary and Conservative MP for Portsmouth North tells me, clad head to toe in dark blue. “There’s a common theme in our traditions, whether it’s a national event like a coronation or a local event. They’re all about honoring service and sacrifice. We worship our monarchy, you see that at many national events.”
“But look around the land, Pearl Kings and Queens, Carnival Queens, Goose Queens, May Queens, Apple Blossom Queens, you name it. And you will find it. [our traditions] It’s all about bringing the country together. “They often involve dressing up, playing drums and sometimes even setting things on fire, and horses are a common theme.”
The bottom line, he says, is not to take ourselves too seriously. “Some of our most important ceremonies and spiritual ceremonies, such as the coronation, are very old, but there is nothing in these services that is not relevant today, and that is why they speak so strongly to the country.”
Pomp & Circumstance, with proceeds donated to charity, reveals how Britain, often thought of as old-fashioned, is using these traditions to navigate its future in a world that looks alarmingly uncertain. In addition to tracing their history and evolution, it also includes a calendar of rituals, festivals and events that take place across the country each year; QR codes printed underneath link to videos showing them in colorful detail.
A surprising number of these were established in bars and still exist, but many of these historic waterholes are endangered. Changing trends (e.g. younger generations avoiding alcohol), combined with rising overheads and crippling regulations, mean more and more pubs are saying “last orders” for the last time. The British Beer and Pub Association, which represents the beleaguered industry, predicts 378 pubs will close this year, costing more than 5,600 jobs.
Penny says this is a huge loss for the country.
“I always knew that bars played a special role in society, but it was through the research I did for the book that I realized the extent of that role,” he says. “Without pubs we would lose a tremendous community resource. There’s not a community center everywhere, but there’s a pub everywhere, and if we lose those assets our communities will be poorer for it. “They’ve been important throughout our entire history.
He continues: “We need to keep them going, and that means recognizing that they, along with other small businesses, need a bit of a break. We need to give them more flexibility to do what they need to do to diversify and develop without going through a lot of red tape. That’s why I’m in favor of lowering business rates; that’s my party’s policy on such businesses. But we also need to recognize and support in other ways, particularly rural areas where it’s difficult to generate additional visitors.”
The book exemplifies the sense of humor that is one of Britain’s greatest assets, celebrating quaint-sounding traditions such as bolving (a stag copulation imitation competition), hooding (a stunt with a hobby horse) and sow wrestling (no explanation needed!), while also paying respectful tribute to what Penny says is the country’s greatest and, in her opinion, most revered tradition: Remembrance Day.
“This is the ultimate expression of love and willingness to lay down your life for your fellow citizens,” he says. “It’s something we all still participate in. Most of us will probably be going to some kind of event, most of us will be wearing poppies, most of us will be thinking about our grandparents and other family members and those who are still serving.”
But not everyone living in Britain has respect for their traditions, and I ask Penny whether some of the rituals many of us enjoy are seen by others as elitist or exclusionary, or even “pompous and inferior”.
“There are a lot of things that worry people right now, and a lot of it is because politics isn’t working for people,” he replies. “If you want to make the kind of transformation in politics and public services that the public is crying out for, you have to take a page out of the book of people who have done it well before, and that means their radical programs have to be based on tradition. You can’t blow everything up; that won’t work here. It has to be something sensible, like Margaret Thatcher did. She brought things back to terms that people really understood and were comfortable with; it was all about people taking responsibility.”
“These traditions are about people taking responsibility and showing the agency they have in their local communities. So I don’t buy the narrative that people have fallen out of love with their neighbours, their community and their country. I didn’t get that impression when I stood on the steps of Guildhall Square in Portsmouth on Remembrance Sunday.”
Penny is also adamant that despite high levels of tension between communities over immigration, the flying of the St George’s and Union Jack flags this year is “an expression of people of love rather than hatred”.
“I think the reason people wrap flags around lampposts is because they want to be proud of their country,” he says. “And that’s important because pride is a necessary condition for the country to do well, so I’m very optimistic when I look at the people of this country. I don’t think they’re disrespectful. I don’t buy that narrative at all. I think they’re fed up.”
Penny had previously been floated as the future leader of the Conservative Party but lost her seat to Labor last year. Would he consider returning to Parliament? “You can serve and get things done without having to sit on the green benches or in City Hall,” he says. “Of the hundreds of organizations we cover in the book that do these things for their communities – bringing people together and raising money to make things happen – very few are funded or organized by any government authority. They’re organized by local traders and communities coming together. So Westminster and Whitehall aren’t everything. In fact, most things are done better when they’re done outside of those institutions.”
He started to smile. “And you don’t need letters after your name to serve. Being an MP is just one way to do that. I’d love to go back because I have a list of things I’d like to try and get done, but you can help in other ways too. You don’t need to hold public office to do a good deed.”
“The book has an important message for people who are feeling a bit insecure about their country at the moment, worried about the future and the pace of change, which is a bit scary. The book will remind people that Britain is probably the best placed of any other nation in the world to deal with the challenges ahead because of where we come from and who we are.”
Penny Mordaunt and Chris Lewis’s Pomp & Circumstance – Why Britain’s Traditions Matter (Biteback, £22) is available from all good bookshops. Proceeds will be distributed to a range of community causes including Chelsea Royal Infirmary and the Household Cavalry Foundation
