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As the struggling Tories gathers in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has plenty to consider regarding its next steps. Doubt remains if a clear direction is available. We are in difficult days for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to the electorate.

An Alternate Reality

It could have been vastly better if real advances had been made on an priority that matters to people across the country: Equal opportunity. Yet Boris Johnson’s government hadn’t got the first clue on how to turn his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into policy reality. During the initial period after the general election, it discussed what the concept even meant.

I found it bizarre, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what social mobility meant when we initially discussed about it during the contest for party leader. The expression was a term I developed and used at the Department for Education to talk about equal opportunity. It was our core mission, and its definition is unambiguous: social mobility is the approach by which we attain equal access – not by taking prospects away from those who already have it, but rather by expanding chances to those that lack them.

Essential Principle

An additional vital education department term we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, but opportunity is not”, represented another a intentional wording, representing the two halves of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, ability distributed uniformly but not developed consistently through our schools and colleges. Additionally, opportunities not spread evenly by businesses or our economy. Thus, education and business were essential to achieving better life chances. This was an agenda about the social fabric of our country – supporting individual capabilities and linking them with chances.

What Levelling Up Became

What did levelling up turn into under the Tory administration? Regional development money administered out of the the relevant ministry. Hanging baskets and redeveloped traffic systems. A white paper was published a significant period after the Prime Minister took office, which saw ongoing initiatives relabelled under the fresh social mobility slogan.

Therefore, a broader social mobility agenda went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it might have driven – in capital, business, economic policy, tax and in place-making. Additionally, in schooling, including a university system that has become a punchbag for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the strongest driver of upward movement for youth from modest backgrounds, personally, this country has had in recent decades. Perhaps the sole mechanism of equal opportunity, functioning widely.

The Importance of Aspiration

Hope is crucial for our country to thrive. To foster ambition, there needs to be a credible sense that effort and reward are linked; that if people aspire, they can succeed. For political leadership, being able to instil a outlook of positivity about the tomorrow is critical. Research by the academic institution at the university and others, recently released, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to improving education outcomes – led to youth in those areas being up to nearly one-fifth more positive about their life ahead than those in similar areas without these schemes in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people view their prospects.

Missed Opportunities

Oblivious to this, and in the throes of its new leader election, in that period, the Conservative government terminated the programmes. What reason would someone in those communities vote for a organization that made that decision? This specific initiative is a single instance of what might have become a game-changing Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that opportunity was hopelessly squandered. Methods such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. On the other hand, as the Conservatives found out, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the costliest mistake any political party can make. The public punished the leadership for its incompetence but, primarily, for its broken promises on levelling up.

Present Circumstances

At present the baton on social mobility and equality of opportunity has passed to a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. The current administration has its own public messaging of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The party that is gradually replacing the struggling incumbents, the challenger, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. It’s a phrase to talk about fresh prospects in regions like the one I grew up in, in my hometown. It suggests that an former economic strength can be reborn into an revitalized economy.

For voters, it must appear as a Groundhog Day-style loop. Identical problem, alternative phrasing. But – as yet – no results.

Lessons for the Future

Should the current and alternative parties want to escape the same fate, each group should learn from the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that fair chance language is easy to say, but successful delivery of improved opportunities is much harder. Britain’s chronically poor social mobility remains the key issue for our country, with youth unable to get a decent career start, those working hard in employment with few results after the living expenses are met, and individuals nationwide without any real hope their offspring will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Elected officials can talk about fairer opportunities repeatedly. Yet where is the party that has the complete plan on life chances? I observe no such party. Whoever gets there first, succeeds. Not only for their organization, but, significantly, for a whole country that has never needed equal access so urgently.