Everyone talks about “the Establishment” – politicians rail against it, commentators blame it, voters distrust it. But what if the Establishment isn’t a secret cabal at all? What if “they” are not people behind closed doors, but the shared assumptions that shape how we all think, work, and govern?

In The Establishment Is Not What You Think It Is, Adam Tugwell explores how power today operates less through hierarchy and more through worldview – a system of beliefs so embedded it feels like common sense. From Parliament to Canary Wharf, from media to markets, the same logic of credibility, control, and competition defines what’s considered “responsible.”

The question isn’t how to overthrow them. It’s how to wake up from it.