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As the beleaguered Conservative party gathers in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its future direction. There is uncertainty if a road forward exists at all. We are in challenging circumstances for a governing group that now has little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to voters.

An Alternate Reality

The situation might have been vastly better if tangible progress had been made on an priority that matters to people nationwide: Social mobility. Yet the previous administration lacked the first clue on how to convert the popular slogan on social mobility into policy reality. During the initial period after the general election, it discussed what the phrase truly represented.

I found it bizarre, because I’d already told Johnson what levelling up meant when we initially discussed about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a term I developed and used at the DfE to talk about life chances. It was our core mission, and its meaning is straightforward: levelling up is the method by which we achieve equal access – not by taking chances away from those who possess it, but rather by providing options to those that lack them.

The Core Concept

Another crucial ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared throughout the nation, however access isn’t”, again was a intentional wording, representing the two halves of a fairness agenda. First, potential shared equally but not cultivated evenly through our learning institutions. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by employers or our economy. As a result, learning and employment were essential to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This constituted an mission about the social fabric of our country – supporting human talent and linking them with prospects.

What Levelling Up Became

How did the social mobility agenda become under the previous government? Local investment schemes overseen from the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and redeveloped traffic systems. A government strategy was published almost thirty-six months after the leadership change, which saw existing policy approaches repackaged under the new levelling up banner.

Consequently, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went unpursued, as well as all the improvement that it might have driven – in investment, enterprise, financial planning, revenue 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 primary vehicle of life improvement for youth from modest backgrounds, including myself, this country has had throughout modern times. Maybe the sole mechanism of equal opportunity, working extensively.

The Role of Ambition

Ambition is essential for our country to prosper. For hope to exist, there needs to be a realistic expectation that dedication and outcome are linked; that if people aspire, they can attain. For political leadership, being able to create a feeling of hope about the future is crucial. Research by the research body at the academic establishment and others, recently released, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I introduced as education secretary – locally targeted strategies to improving education outcomes – led to young people in those areas being up to a significant margin more positive about their prospects than those in equivalent locations without these initiatives in place. The data shows: just making an sincere effort on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people feel about their prospects.

Lost Potential

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its successor selection process, in autumn 2022, the Conservative government closed opportunity areas down. Why should any person in those areas vote for a party that took that action? This specific initiative is a single instance of what had the potential to be a transformative administration strategy on social mobility, but that opportunity was totally misused. Methods such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. Conversely, as the Tories learned, failing to deliver of equal opportunity is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The public held accountable the administration for its failure but, above all, for its failed pledges on social mobility.

The Current Landscape

Currently the responsibility on equal opportunity and equal chances has been transferred to a opposition party. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. The new government has its own political rhetoric of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The party that is increasingly displacing the failing Conservative party, the challenger, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. The terminology to talk about fresh prospects in regions like the one I was raised in, in South Yorkshire. It claims that an former economic strength can be reborn into an modern manufacturing sector.

For voters, it must feel like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Same issue, different language. But – as yet – no results.

The Way Forward

Should the current and alternative parties want to avoid the same fate, the respective organizations should understand the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that equal opportunity talk is one thing, but successful delivery of improved opportunities is significantly more difficult. The UK’s endemically weak life chances remains the central problem for our country, with youth unable to get a proper professional launch, those working hard in full-time jobs with little to show after the housing costs are covered, and individuals nationwide without any genuine belief their offspring will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can discuss equal chances repeatedly. But where is the political group that has the complete plan on life chances? I observe no such party. Whichever party succeeds initially, wins. Not only for their organization, but, crucially, for a entire nation that has never needed equal access so desperately.