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As the existentially challenged Conservative party gathers in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has plenty to consider regarding its future direction. It’s not even clear if a clear direction remains open. We are in challenging circumstances for a governing group that now has almost nothing, 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 agenda that matters to people nationwide: Equal opportunity. However Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the first clue on how to turn the trendy talk on levelling up into concrete action. During the initial period after the 2019 election, it debated what the term truly represented.

I was perplexed, because I’d already told the Prime Minister what levelling up meant when we first spoke about it during the contest for party leader. The expression was language I created and used at the Department for Education to talk about social mobility. It was our guiding principle, and its definition is unambiguous: social mobility is the method by which we realize fair chances – not by taking prospects away from those who already have it, but rather by extending chances to those that lack them.

Fundamental Idea

An additional vital DfE phrase we used, “ability is distributed uniformly around the UK, but opportunity is not”, again was a deliberate expression, embodying the dual components of a fairness agenda. First, ability distributed uniformly but not cultivated evenly through our schools and colleges. Second, access not provided uniformly by the private sector or our economic system. Thus, learning and employment were key to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This was an priority about the societal structure of our country – supporting individual capabilities and linking them with opportunities.

The Actual Outcome

How did the social mobility agenda turn into under the previous government? Regional development money overseen from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Hanging baskets and redeveloped traffic systems. A government strategy was released a significant period after Johnson became leader, which saw existing policy approaches rebadged under the new levelling up banner.

Therefore, a wider fairness strategy went unpursued, as well as all the change that it might have driven – in investment, commerce, financial planning, tax and in community development. And, of course, in education, including a higher education sector that has become a scapegoat for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the primary vehicle of life improvement for young working-class people, personally, this country has had throughout modern times. Perhaps the only engine of fair chances, working extensively.

The Importance of Aspiration

Aspiration is essential for our country to thrive. To foster ambition, there needs to be a credible sense that hard work and results are related; that if people aspire, they can achieve. For any government, being able to create a sense of optimism about the future is critical. Studies by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, recently released, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I launched while in office – community-focused methods to boosting academic achievement – led to young people in those areas being up to a significant margin more hopeful about their life ahead than those in similar areas without these initiatives in place. The evidence is clear: just making an authentic start on pro-social mobility policy can swiftly and beneficially change how people view their prospects.

Missed Opportunities

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its new leader election, in September 2022, the ruling party terminated the programmes. Why should any person in those areas vote for a organization that took that action? The targeted programme is one example of what could have been a transformative Tory policy platform on social mobility, but that possibility was totally misused. Approaches such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. Conversely, as the Conservatives found out, breaking the promise of fair chances is the most expensive error any leadership can make. The electorate punished the leadership for its incompetence but, perhaps most of all, for its failed pledges on social mobility.

The Current Landscape

Now the responsibility on life chances and equal chances has passed to a opposition party. The levelling up rhetoric has been discarded. The current administration has its own policy language of “removing obstacles to success”. The party that is gradually replacing the struggling incumbents, the challenger, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about new opportunities in regions like the one I was raised in, in South Yorkshire. It claims that an former economic strength can reincarnate into an industrial future.

To the electorate, it must feel like a repetitive cycle. Same issue, new terminology. However, so far, no progress.

The Way Forward

Should the current and alternative parties want to prevent the identical outcome, each group should learn from the Tories’ mistakes on social mobility; that social mobility rhetoric is simple terminology, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is far more challenging. Our nation’s chronically poor life chances remains the primary challenge for our country, with young people unable to get a proper professional launch, those putting in effort in occupations with little to show after the living expenses are met, and individuals nationwide without any actual expectation their children will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Leaders can mention fairer opportunities repeatedly. However, which party has the political group that has the thorough strategy on equal opportunity? I see none. Whoever gets there first, prevails. Not just for their organization, but, more importantly, for a entire nation that has never needed equal access so desperately.