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As the existentially challenged Tories gathers in its conference city for its yearly gathering, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its path forward. There is uncertainty if a clear direction exists at all. These are challenging circumstances for a political party that now has very little, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

The Missed Opportunity

It could have been vastly better if tangible progress had been made on an priority that resonates with people throughout the UK: Social mobility. Yet Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the slightest idea on how to transform the popular slogan on social mobility into concrete action. Over twenty-four months after the 2019 election, it argued over what the term truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I had previously explained to the Prime Minister what levelling up entailed when we originally talked about it during the contest for party leader. The phrase was language I created and used at the education ministry to talk about social mobility. This became our departmental mantra, and its definition is unambiguous: social mobility is the method by which we realize fair chances – without removing prospects away from those who possess it, but rather by providing opportunities to those that lack them.

The Core Concept

The other key ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared throughout the nation, yet chances are not”, represented another a purposeful phrase, representing the dual components of a fairness agenda. First, talent spread evenly but not cultivated evenly through our learning institutions. Furthermore, chances not distributed fairly by businesses or our economy. Therefore, learning and employment were key to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This represented an agenda about the societal structure of our country – fostering human talent and providing access to prospects.

What Levelling Up Became

What did the social mobility agenda turn into under the previous government? Regional development money overseen from the DLUHC. Hanging baskets and rearranged intersections. A white paper was published nearly three years after Johnson became leader, which saw ongoing initiatives rebadged under the new levelling up banner.

Consequently, a broader social mobility agenda went ignored, as well as all the improvement that it may have generated – in investment, enterprise, economic policy, taxation and in local regeneration. Moreover, in schooling, including a university system that has become a punchbag for elected officials – although it remains the strongest driver of life improvement for young working-class people, personally, this country has had throughout modern times. Perhaps the primary source of fair chances, working extensively.

The Role of Ambition

Hope is vital for our country to succeed. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a realistic expectation that hard work and results are linked; that if people dream big, they can succeed. For all administrations, being able to foster a sense of optimism about the future is crucial. Analysis by the academic institution at the university and others, recently released, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to improving education outcomes – led to young people in those areas being up to 18 percentage points more hopeful about their life ahead than those in equivalent locations without these schemes in place. The research confirms: just making an genuine beginning on equal chance initiatives can swiftly and beneficially change how people feel about their prospects.

Squandered Chances

Unaware of these findings, and in the middle of its new leader election, in autumn 2022, the Conservative government terminated the programmes. Why would anyone in those areas vote for a organization that did that? The opportunity areas policy is a clear case of what might have become a game-changing Tory policy platform on social mobility, but that possibility was totally misused. Approaches such as this can generate optimism and ambition. Conversely, as the Tories learned, reneging on commitments of social mobility is the most expensive error any political party can make. Voters punished the leadership for its incompetence but, perhaps most of all, for its unfulfilled commitments on levelling up.

Today’s Political Reality

At present the mandate on life chances and fair access has been taken up by a new administration. The old slogan has been abandoned. Labour has its own policy language of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The organization that is increasingly displacing the hapless Tories, Reform UK, also has its own message – “reindustrialisation”. It’s a phrase to talk about new opportunities in communities like the one I was raised in, in my hometown. It promises that an former economic strength can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.

For voters, it must feel like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Similar challenge, alternative phrasing. But – as yet – no results.

The Way Forward

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the similar destiny, the respective organizations should learn from the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is simple terminology, but effective implementation of improved opportunities is far more challenging. Britain’s endemically weak social mobility remains the key issue for our country, with young people unable to get a proper professional launch, those working hard in employment with minimal progress after the living expenses are met, and individuals nationwide without any real hope their next generation will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Leaders can mention equal chances repeatedly. Yet where is the organization that has the comprehensive policy agenda on equal opportunity? I observe no such party. Whichever party succeeds initially, succeeds. Not just for themselves, but, crucially, for a entire nation that has never needed equal access so badly.