If you caught the news today, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

 Another day in Parliament, another round of MPs shouting over each other, circling the same arguments, and in Kemi Badenoch’s case, openly mocking colleagues as if it were some kind of adolescent game show.

 My heart sank.

It wasn’t clever.

It wasn’t funny.

And it absolutely wasn’t leadership.

Later on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Nick Robinson asked a question that illustrated my point exactly. He suggested that the jeering, the interruptions, and the petty point-scoring in the Commons are part of the reason why people no longer trust politics in general. The Conservative MP he was interviewing agreed it was “regrettable”… but somehow still didn’t connect the dots.

 So let me do that for him:

 You can’t behave badly and then wonder why people lose confidence in you. Leaders set the tone, whether they mean to or not.

 Anyone who has ever led a team knows this:

·       People watch what you do, not what you say.

·       If you stay calm, they feel safe.

·       If you listen, they feel valued.

·       If you mock or belittle someone, you’ve just told everyone else it’s acceptable to do the same.

 And the House of Commons is one of the most visible “rooms” in the country.

·       Millions watch.

·       Young people watch.

·       Future leaders watch.

 And what they’re learning right now isn’t policy. They’re learning behaviour.

 A divided society doesn’t need more fuel thrown on the fire

 We are already living in a time of stretched communities and fragile trust. People are tired. Overwhelmed. Holding so much.

 What we don’t need is our elected leaders modelling:

·       Disrespect

·       Interruption

·       Mockery

·       tribal digs

·       and performative anger

 When the Commons behaves like this, it spills everywhere, into workplaces, teams, relationships, and classrooms. It normalises shutting people down instead of listening. It rewards volume over wisdom. And then we wonder why everything feels so confrontational.

 Respect isn’t soft. It’s the foundation of psychological safety.

·       It’s easy to mock.

·       It’s easy to shout.

·       It’s easy to “win the moment” with a cheap line.

 What’s hard, and what real leaders do, is this:

·       Disagree without dehumanising.

·       Stay steady when emotions rise.

·       Stay curious when challenged.

·       Slow down when the room speeds up.

That’s not weakness:

·       That’s maturity.

·       That’s emotional intelligence.

·       That’s leadership. 

And it’s exactly what we’re missing. This isn’t about politics. It’s about standards.

 You can support any party and still want leaders who behave like adults. You can disagree on policy and still believe respect matters, and you can have strong views without losing basic humanity. None of this is partisan. It’s simply what leadership is supposed to look like.

 Imagine something better

 Imagine if our MPs:

  • spoke to each other the way they’d want their own teams to speak to them
  • challenged ideas instead of people
  • listened instead of waiting to land their next line
  • modelled steadiness instead of theatrics
  • understood the country is watching, and learning

Imagine the difference that would make to:

·       workplaces

·       public trust

·       young people

·       team cultures

·       community conversations

·       the next generation of leaders

 Leadership is never just about decisions. It’s about behaviour. It’s about how you hold yourself under pressure. It’s about the example you leave behind. And right now, too many of our elected leaders have forgotten that, and until they remember, we will all keep paying the price.