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As the existentially challenged Conservative party convenes in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its next steps. Doubt remains if a clear direction remains open. These are challenging circumstances for a governing group that now has very little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to voters.

The Missed Opportunity

The situation might have been vastly better if tangible progress had been made on an agenda that is important for people across the country: Levelling up. But the previous administration did not possess the basic understanding on how to convert the trendy talk on social mobility into policy reality. Over twenty-four months after the 2019 election, it discussed what the concept truly represented.

I was perplexed, because I had clearly defined for Johnson what social mobility signified when we initially discussed about it during his leadership campaign. This terminology was a concept I originated and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. It was our guiding principle, and its definition is clear: social mobility is the means by which we attain fair chances – not through reducing opportunity away from those who possess it, but rather by extending chances to those that are without.

Essential Principle

Another crucial education department term we used, “potential is equally shared throughout the nation, yet chances are not”, served as a intentional wording, reflecting the dual components of a equal opportunity plan. To begin with, potential shared equally but not developed consistently through our schools and colleges. Furthermore, chances not distributed fairly by businesses or our economic system. 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 providing access to chances.

The Reality of Implementation

What did levelling up turn into under the previous government? Regional development money administered out of the DLUHC. Street beautification and rearranged intersections. An official policy document was released nearly three years after the Prime Minister took office, which saw existing policy approaches repackaged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

As a result, a wider fairness strategy went undeveloped, as well as all the reform that it could have inspired – in capital, enterprise, fiscal strategy, revenue and in local regeneration. Additionally, in schooling, including a tertiary education that has become a target for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the strongest driver of life improvement for youth from modest backgrounds, like me, this country has had over the past 30 years. Possibly the only engine of fair chances, operating at scale.

The Importance of Aspiration

Aspiration is vital for our country to thrive. To foster ambition, there needs to be a realistic expectation that dedication and outcome are related; that if people aim high, they can succeed. For any government, being able to create a outlook of positivity about the years ahead is critical. Studies by the academic institution at the university and others, newly available, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I launched while in office – community-focused methods to enhancing learning results – led to students in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more positive about their prospects than those in similar areas without these schemes in place. The evidence is clear: just making an authentic start on equal chance initiatives can quickly and positively change how people view their future.

Squandered Chances

Oblivious to this, and in the throes of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in September 2022, the Conservative government ended the initiatives. What reason would someone in those areas vote for a organization that made that decision? This specific initiative is a clear case of what had the potential to be a transformative Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that possibility was completely wasted. Methods 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 leadership can make. Voters held accountable the administration for its failure but, primarily, for its broken promises on social mobility.

Present Circumstances

Now the baton on equal opportunity and equality of opportunity has been taken up by a Labour government. The levelling up rhetoric has been discarded. The current administration has its own political rhetoric of “removing obstacles to success”. The political group that is steadily supplanting the failing Conservative party, the challenger, also has its own language – “reindustrialisation”. The terminology to talk about new opportunities in regions like the one I grew up in, in South Yorkshire. It promises that an historical manufacturing base can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.

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

What Must Change

If Labour and Reform UK want to prevent the identical outcome, the respective organizations should learn from the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that fair chance language is simple terminology, but actual achievement of more equal results is significantly more difficult. Our nation’s chronically poor equal opportunity remains the primary challenge for our country, with the next generation unable to get a decent career start, those putting in effort in occupations with few results after the rent has been paid, and people across the country without any genuine belief their offspring will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Leaders can mention fairer opportunities as much as they want. But where is the organization 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 complete society that has never needed equality of opportunity so urgently.