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As the struggling Tories gathers in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has plenty to consider regarding its path forward. There is uncertainty if a viable path is available. We are in difficult days for a governing group that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

An Alternate Reality

It could have been markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that is important for people nationwide: Equal opportunity. But the previous administration lacked the slightest idea on how to transform his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into policy reality. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it argued over what the phrase actually signified.

I found it bizarre, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what social mobility meant when we originally talked about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a concept I originated and used at the Department for Education to talk about equal opportunity. This became our departmental mantra, and its meaning is unambiguous: levelling up is the means by which we achieve fair chances – not through reducing prospects away from those who already have it, but rather by providing opportunities to those that don’t.

The Core Concept

An additional vital education department term we used, “ability is distributed uniformly throughout the nation, but opportunity is not”, served as a purposeful phrase, embodying the dual components of a fairness agenda. Initially, potential shared equally but not nurtured uniformly through our education system. Furthermore, access not provided uniformly by the private sector or our economy. As a result, schools and companies were essential to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This represented an agenda about the social fabric of our country – investing in people’s potential and connecting them to opportunities.

The Reality of Implementation

How did the social mobility agenda turn into under the Tory administration? A towns fund overseen from the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and reconfigured roundabouts and roads. A government strategy was launched a significant period after Johnson became leader, which saw existing policy approaches repackaged under the recently branded agenda.

Consequently, a wider fairness strategy went unpursued, as well as all the change that it could have inspired – in investment, business, economic policy, revenue and in local regeneration. And, of course, in learning, including a university system that has become a punchbag for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the strongest driver of life improvement for individuals from less privileged homes, including myself, this country has had in recent decades. Maybe the primary source of equal opportunity, working extensively.

The Role of Ambition

Ambition is crucial for our country to prosper. For hope to exist, there needs to be a realistic expectation that dedication and outcome are related; that if people aspire, they can attain. For any government, being able to create a outlook of positivity about the years ahead is crucial. Studies by the academic institution at Bath University and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I established during my tenure – place-based approaches to boosting academic achievement – led to young people in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more optimistic about their prospects than those in comparable communities without these initiatives in place. The data shows: just making an genuine beginning on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people feel about their destiny.

Missed Opportunities

Unaware of these findings, and in the midst of its successor selection process, in September 2022, the Tory administration closed opportunity areas down. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a party that took that action? The targeted programme is one example of what might have become a transformative administration strategy on levelling up, but that possibility was totally misused. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. Conversely, as the Tories found out, reneging on commitments of social mobility is the costliest mistake any government can make. The electorate penalized the government for its ineffectiveness but, above all, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

The Current Landscape

At present the responsibility on equal opportunity and equality of opportunity has been transferred to a Labour government. The old slogan has been discarded. The current administration has its own policy language of “removing obstacles to success”. The party that is gradually replacing the struggling incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own terminology – “reindustrialisation”. The terminology to talk about new opportunities in communities like the one I was raised in, in the region. It promises that an former economic strength can be reborn into an modern manufacturing sector.

For voters, it must seem like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Identical problem, new terminology. However, so far, no progress.

What Must Change

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the identical outcome, both these parties should understand the Tories’ mistakes on levelling up; that equal opportunity talk is one thing, but actual achievement of more equal results is much harder. Britain’s persistently low life chances remains the primary challenge for our country, with youth unable to get a proper professional launch, those working hard in occupations with few results after the rent has been paid, and people across the country without any actual expectation their offspring will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Politicians can mention fairer opportunities as much as they want. Yet where is the party that has the thorough strategy on social mobility? I see none. Whichever party succeeds initially, succeeds. Not just for themselves, but, crucially, for a whole country that has desperately requires equal access so desperately.