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As the beleaguered Conservative party meets in its conference city for its yearly gathering, it has much to ponder regarding its path forward. Doubt remains if a clear direction exists at all. We are in challenging circumstances for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the electorate.

An Alternate Reality

Things could have turned out vastly better if real advances had been made on an agenda that matters to people across the country: Social mobility. But Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the basic understanding on how to turn the trendy talk on levelling up into policy reality. During the initial period after the 2019 election, it argued over what the concept even meant.

I was perplexed, because I had previously explained to Johnson what levelling up meant when we initially discussed about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a concept I originated and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. It was our departmental mantra, and its meaning is clear: levelling up is the method by which we achieve equality of opportunity – not through reducing chances away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by providing opportunities to those that don’t.

Essential Principle

The other key DfE phrase we used, “talent is spread evenly around the UK, yet chances are not”, again was a intentional wording, representing the two parts of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Furthermore, chances not distributed fairly by employers or our economy. Thus, learning and employment were key to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This represented an mission about the community framework of our country – investing in people’s potential and linking them with opportunities.

The Actual Outcome

How did levelling up become under Johnson’s Conservatives? Regional development money managed by the the relevant ministry. Hanging baskets and rearranged intersections. An official policy document was published a significant period after the Prime Minister took office, which saw current strategies relabelled under the fresh social mobility slogan.

As a result, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it could have inspired – in funding, business, financial planning, taxation and in local regeneration. And, of course, in education, including a higher education sector that has become a target for leaders across parties – even though it remains the strongest driver of life improvement for individuals from less privileged homes, personally, this country has had throughout modern times. Possibly the sole mechanism of equal opportunity, working extensively.

The Role of Ambition

Hope is crucial for our country to succeed. For hope to exist, there needs to be a believable feeling that effort and reward are linked; that if people aim high, they can achieve. For political leadership, being able to instil a feeling of hope about the future is important. Studies by the research body at the academic establishment and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I established during my tenure – place-based approaches to improving education outcomes – led to youth in those communities being up to nearly one-fifth more positive about their future than those in equivalent locations without these initiatives in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on fair opportunity strategies can quickly and positively change how people perceive their destiny.

Lost Potential

Ignoring this evidence, and in the middle of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in autumn 2022, the Conservative government closed opportunity areas down. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a organization that did that? The opportunity areas policy is a single instance of what might have become a game-changing Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that chance was completely wasted. Strategies such as this can create belief and drive. Conversely, as the ruling party found out, failing to deliver of fair chances is the biggest blunder any political party can make. The public held accountable the government for its ineffectiveness but, perhaps most of all, for its broken promises on social mobility.

Today’s Political Reality

Currently the mandate on equal opportunity and equal chances has passed to a Labour government. The levelling up rhetoric has been abandoned. The new government has its own public messaging of “removing obstacles to success”. The organization that is steadily supplanting the hapless Conservative party, the alternative party, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about additional chances in communities like the one I grew up in, in the region. It suggests that an historical manufacturing base can reincarnate into an modern manufacturing sector.

For voters, it must appear as a Groundhog Day-style loop. Similar challenge, alternative phrasing. Yet, currently, little improvement.

What Must Change

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the identical outcome, both these parties should learn from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that fair chance language is easy to say, but actual achievement of fairer outcomes is far more challenging. Britain’s persistently low social mobility remains the primary challenge for our country, with youth unable to get a decent career start, those working hard in full-time jobs with little to show after the rent has been paid, and people across the country without any genuine belief their children will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Leaders can talk about improved access however much they like. Yet where is the organization that has the thorough strategy on life chances? I observe no such party. Whoever gets there first, succeeds. Not just for themselves, but, more importantly, for a whole country that has urgently needs equality of opportunity so desperately.