The U.K. government has just appointed a new minster, widely referred to as the minister for 'common sense'. But what common sense is, is widely disputed, not just among philosophers but in everyday life. Using the rhetoric of common sense is in fact often used to present controversial claims as obvious, and conceal ideological commitments, argues Peter West.

Amidst the comings and goings of his cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has created a new position in government: the ‘minister for common sense.’ The news reads like satire, something out of The Onion, or a Monty Python Sketch, and the newspaper that broke the story only made things sound more surreal, calling the appointee, Esther McVey, the “common sense tsar”. Her goal? To “lead the charge on the government’s anti-woke agenda.”

When asked on the BBC’s Today Programme what a ‘common sense tsar’ is, the new cabinet chair Richard Holden failed to give a clear answer. He denied that the role was all about promoting the government’s ‘anti-woke’ agenda and alluded to conserving free speech in British universities. Jacob Rees-Mog, who is perhaps as anti-woke as it gets, called the name of the position “silly.”