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As the struggling Tories meets in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its path forward. Doubt remains if a road forward is available. We are in difficult days for a political party that now has little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to voters.

An Alternate Reality

It could have been so different if real advances had been made on an priority that is important for people across the country: Social mobility. Yet Boris Johnson’s government lacked the slightest idea on how to transform the popular slogan on social mobility into actual implementation. For the two years after the 2019 election, it debated what the phrase actually signified.

I found it bizarre, because I’d already told Johnson what social mobility entailed when we initially discussed about it during his leadership campaign. The phrase was a term I developed and used at the education ministry to talk about life chances. It was our guiding principle, and its definition is straightforward: levelling up is the approach by which we achieve fair chances – without removing prospects away from those who possess it, but rather by expanding opportunities to those that don’t.

Essential Principle

The other key DfE phrase we used, “potential is equally shared around the UK, however access isn’t”, again was a deliberate expression, reflecting the two halves of a fairness agenda. Initially, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our schools and colleges. Second, chances not distributed fairly by the private sector or our market. Therefore, schools and companies were crucial to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This constituted an priority about the social fabric of our country – supporting human talent and linking them with prospects.

The Actual Outcome

What did levelling up become under the previous government? Local investment schemes managed by the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. An official policy document was released almost thirty-six months after the leadership change, which saw existing policy approaches repackaged under the new levelling up banner.

Consequently, a wider fairness strategy went unpursued, as well as all the improvement that it may have generated – in funding, enterprise, fiscal strategy, tax and in place-making. Additionally, in learning, including a university system that has become a punchbag for politicians of all stripes – although it remains the most powerful engine of upward movement for youth from modest backgrounds, personally, this country has had throughout modern times. Possibly the sole mechanism of equal opportunity, working extensively.

The Role of Ambition

Ambition is crucial for our country to thrive. For hope to exist, there needs to be a credible sense that dedication and outcome are related; that if people aspire, they can succeed. For any government, being able to foster a sense of optimism about the future is crucial. Studies by the Institute for Policy Research at Bath University and others, newly available, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I established during my tenure – locally targeted strategies to enhancing learning results – led to young people in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more optimistic about their future than those in equivalent locations without these schemes in place. The evidence is clear: just making an sincere effort on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people view their future.

Missed Opportunities

Unaware of these findings, and in the middle of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in autumn 2022, the Tory administration ended the initiatives. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a party that did that? The targeted programme is a single instance of what might have become a game-changing Conservative government agenda on levelling up, but that possibility was completely wasted. Methods such as this can create belief and drive. In contrast, as the ruling party found out, failing to deliver of equal opportunity is the costliest mistake any political party can make. The electorate held accountable the administration for its incompetence but, primarily, for its broken promises on levelling up.

Present Circumstances

Currently the mandate on equal opportunity and equal chances has passed to a Labour government. The old slogan has been discarded. Labour has its own policy language of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The party that is increasingly displacing the failing Tories, Reform UK, also has its own terminology – “industrial revival”. The terminology to talk about new opportunities in areas like the one I grew up in, in the region. It promises that an former economic strength can reincarnate into an industrial future.

To the electorate, it must appear as a repetitive cycle. Identical problem, new terminology. But – as yet – no results.

What Must Change

Should the current and alternative parties want to escape the identical outcome, each group should understand the previous government’s errors on social mobility; that equal opportunity talk is one thing, but effective implementation of improved opportunities is much harder. Britain’s persistently low life chances remains the central problem for our country, with youth unable to get a decent career start, those working hard in employment with minimal progress after the housing costs are covered, and individuals nationwide without any genuine belief their next generation will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Politicians can talk about improved access however much they like. Yet where is the political group that has the complete plan on equal opportunity? None appear to exist. Whichever party succeeds initially, succeeds. Not just for their party, but, more importantly, for a complete society that has urgently needs equal access so badly.