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As the beleaguered Conservative party convenes in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has plenty to consider regarding its next steps. It’s not even clear if a road forward is available. These are difficult days for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

What Could Have Been

It could have been so different if tangible progress had been made on an agenda that resonates with people across the country: Equal opportunity. However the previous administration hadn’t got the basic understanding on how to turn the trendy talk on social mobility into concrete action. Over twenty-four months after the 2019 election, it argued over what the phrase even meant.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for Johnson what social mobility entailed when we initially discussed about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a concept I originated and used at the Department for Education to talk about equal opportunity. This became our guiding principle, and its definition is clear: levelling up is the approach by which we attain equality of opportunity – not by taking chances away from those who already have it, but rather by extending opportunities to those that lack them.

Essential Principle

Another crucial ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, yet chances are not”, represented another a purposeful phrase, reflecting the dual components of a fairness agenda. Initially, talent spread evenly but not developed consistently through our education system. Second, chances not distributed fairly by the private sector or our economy. Thus, learning and employment were essential to achieving stronger social mobility. This constituted an agenda about the community framework of our country – investing in human talent and connecting them to chances.

What Levelling Up Became

How did levelling up evolve into under the previous government? Local investment schemes managed by the the relevant ministry. Street beautification and reconfigured roundabouts and roads. An official policy document was published almost thirty-six months after Johnson became leader, which saw ongoing initiatives repackaged under the recently branded agenda.

As a result, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went unpursued, as well as all the change that it might have driven – in funding, commerce, economic policy, tax and in community development. Additionally, in learning, including a tertiary education that has become a scapegoat for politicians of all stripes – although it remains the strongest driver of life improvement for youth from modest backgrounds, including myself, this country has had over the past 30 years. Possibly the sole mechanism of social mobility, working extensively.

The Role of Ambition

Aspiration is crucial for our country to thrive. For hope to exist, there needs to be a believable feeling that dedication and outcome are connected; that if people aspire, they can attain. For political leadership, being able to create a sense of optimism about the years ahead is crucial. Studies by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, published last month, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to improving education outcomes – led to students in those communities being up to a significant margin more positive about their life ahead than those in equivalent locations without these programmes in place. The data shows: just making an sincere effort on equal chance initiatives can rapidly and effectively change how people perceive their prospects.

Squandered Chances

Ignoring this evidence, and in the middle of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in September 2022, the Tory administration ended the initiatives. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a organization that made that decision? The opportunity areas policy is one example of what could have been a revolutionary administration strategy on levelling up, but that chance was totally misused. Strategies such as this can generate optimism and ambition. Conversely, as the Conservatives learned, reneging on commitments of equal opportunity is the biggest blunder any political party can make. Voters punished the administration for its ineffectiveness but, primarily, for its broken promises on levelling up.

Today’s Political Reality

Now the baton on social mobility and equal chances has passed to a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been discarded. The current administration has its own policy language of “removing obstacles to success”. The political group that is increasingly displacing the failing incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own message – “reindustrialisation”. It’s a phrase to talk about new opportunities in communities like the one I grew up in, in South Yorkshire. It promises that an industrial past can be reborn into an industrial future.

To the electorate, it must appear as a Groundhog Day-style loop. Same issue, alternative phrasing. However, so far, no progress.

What Must Change

Should the current and alternative parties want to avoid the identical outcome, both these parties should learn from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is simple terminology, but actual achievement of more equal results is far more challenging. Britain’s persistently low life chances remains the central problem for our country, with the next generation unable to get a decent career start, those working hard in full-time jobs with few results after the living expenses are met, and citizens throughout the UK without any real hope their offspring will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Elected officials can mention improved access however much they like. But where is the political group that has the complete plan on social mobility? None appear to exist. Whoever gets there first, succeeds. Not just for themselves, but, more importantly, for a complete society that has never needed equal access so badly.