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As the struggling Conservative party meets in its conference city for its yearly gathering, it has plenty to consider regarding its path forward. Doubt remains if a road forward exists at all. We are in difficult days for a political party that now has little, if anything, new or unique to say to voters.

What Could Have Been

It could have been markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that matters to people throughout the UK: Levelling up. But Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the first clue on how to transform the popular slogan on levelling up into policy reality. During the initial period after the general election, it discussed what the term even meant.

I was perplexed, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what levelling up entailed when we originally talked about it during the contest for party leader. The expression was language I created and used at the education ministry to talk about equal opportunity. It was our guiding principle, and its definition is clear: social mobility is the means by which we realize fair chances – not by taking prospects away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by extending chances to those that are without.

The Core Concept

The other key ministry expression we used, “talent is spread evenly across our country, but opportunity is not”, represented another a intentional wording, reflecting the dual components of a fairness agenda. First, ability distributed uniformly but not developed consistently through our learning institutions. Furthermore, chances not distributed fairly by the private sector or our economic system. Therefore, learning and employment were essential to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This constituted an agenda about the societal structure of our country – fostering people’s potential and linking them with opportunities.

The Actual Outcome

How did the social mobility agenda turn into under the Tory administration? A towns fund administered out of the the relevant ministry. Street beautification and reconfigured roundabouts and roads. A white paper was released a significant period after Johnson became leader, which saw current strategies relabelled under the fresh social mobility slogan.

As a result, a broader social mobility agenda went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it might have driven – in capital, commerce, financial planning, tax and in community development. Additionally, in schooling, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the most powerful engine of upward movement for youth from modest backgrounds, including myself, this country has had throughout modern times. Maybe the sole mechanism of social mobility, working extensively.

The Importance of Aspiration

Ambition is essential for our country to succeed. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a believable feeling that effort and reward are connected; that if people aspire, they can achieve. For any government, being able to foster a sense of optimism about the future is important. Analysis by the Institute for Policy Research at the university and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I introduced as education secretary – locally targeted strategies to enhancing learning results – led to students in those communities being up to nearly one-fifth more optimistic about their future than those in equivalent locations without these initiatives in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on equal chance initiatives can rapidly and effectively change how people feel about their destiny.

Lost Potential

Oblivious to this, and in the middle of its new leader election, in September 2022, the Conservative government closed opportunity areas down. Why should any person in those areas vote for a party that took that action? The opportunity areas policy is one example of what could have been a revolutionary Tory policy platform on levelling up, but that opportunity was completely wasted. Methods such as this can create belief and drive. Conversely, as the ruling party discovered, failing to deliver of fair chances is the most expensive error any leadership can make. Voters punished the leadership for its failure but, above all, for its broken promises on social mobility.

The Current Landscape

Currently the responsibility on life chances and fair access has been taken up by a new administration. The old slogan has been discarded. The new government has its own public messaging of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The political group that is steadily supplanting the struggling incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own terminology – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about fresh prospects in regions like the one I was raised in, in the region. It suggests that an former economic strength can revive into an modern manufacturing sector.

For voters, it must appear as a déjà vu experience. Identical problem, alternative phrasing. However, so far, no progress.

Lessons for the Future

Whether the government and opposition want to prevent the identical outcome, the respective organizations should take lessons from the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that fair chance language is easy to say, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is far more challenging. Our nation’s chronically poor life chances remains the key issue for our country, with the next generation unable to get a good job beginning, those putting in effort in employment with little to show after the rent has been paid, and individuals nationwide without any actual expectation their next generation will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can discuss equal chances repeatedly. Yet where is the organization that has the comprehensive policy agenda on life chances? I observe no such party. The first to achieve this, wins. Not just for their organization, but, significantly, for a complete society that has urgently needs equal access so urgently.