2024 was a year of confusing, inspiring, depressing, and energising developments on many fronts. Politics remained front and centre as billions of people selected new leaders in elections held in Taiwan, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, South Africa, Mexico, the UK, and the United States, as well as a dozens of other countries.

I took two main lessons from what Time magazine has called the “ultimate election year”. First, it was a bad year for incumbents as voters blamed existing leadership for inflation and economic challenges. New parties took power in the United States, the UK, Botswana, ...