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As the struggling Tories convenes in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its future direction. Doubt remains if a road forward is available. We are in challenging circumstances for a governing group that now has little, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

What Could Have Been

Things could have turned out vastly better if real advances had been made on an priority that matters to people throughout the UK: Levelling up. However the former leadership hadn’t got the slightest idea on how to turn the popular slogan on social mobility into concrete action. During the initial period after the general election, it debated what the phrase actually signified.

I was perplexed, because I’d already told Johnson what social mobility meant 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 equal opportunity. It was our guiding principle, and its meaning is straightforward: social mobility is the method by which we attain equal access – not through reducing chances away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by providing options to those that are without.

The Core Concept

An additional vital DfE phrase we used, “ability is distributed uniformly across our country, but opportunity is not”, represented another a purposeful phrase, embodying the dual components of a fairness agenda. To begin with, ability distributed uniformly but not cultivated evenly through our learning institutions. Additionally, access not provided uniformly by employers or our market. Therefore, education and business were key to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This represented an priority about the societal structure of our country – fostering people’s potential and connecting them to opportunities.

The Reality of Implementation

What did the social mobility agenda turn into under the previous government? Regional development money overseen from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Hanging baskets and rearranged intersections. A white paper was released a significant period after Johnson became leader, which saw existing policy approaches relabelled under the recently branded agenda.

Therefore, a wider fairness strategy went undeveloped, as well as all the change that it may have generated – in capital, business, fiscal strategy, tax and in local regeneration. And, of course, in learning, including a higher education sector that has become a target for leaders across parties – although it remains the strongest driver of upward movement for individuals from less privileged homes, personally, this country has had over the past 30 years. Maybe the primary source of equal opportunity, working extensively.

The Importance of Aspiration

Ambition is essential for our country to thrive. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a credible sense that dedication and outcome are connected; that if people aim high, they can succeed. For any government, being able to instil a sense of optimism about the tomorrow is critical. Research by the research body at the university and others, recently released, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to improving education outcomes – led to youth in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more hopeful about their life ahead than those in similar areas without these schemes in place. The data shows: just making an genuine beginning on equal chance initiatives can rapidly and effectively change how people view their future.

Squandered Chances

Unaware of these findings, and in the midst of its new leader election, in September 2022, the Conservative government terminated the programmes. What reason would someone in those areas vote for a political group that did that? This specific initiative is a single instance of what had the potential to be a revolutionary administration strategy on levelling up, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Methods such as this can create belief and drive. On the other hand, as the Tories learned, reneging on commitments of social mobility is the costliest mistake any government can make. The public penalized the government for its failure but, perhaps most of all, for its unfulfilled commitments on equal opportunity.

The Current Landscape

Currently the responsibility on equal opportunity and equal chances has been taken up by a new administration. The old slogan has been cast off. Labour has its own political rhetoric of “removing obstacles to success”. The political group that is gradually replacing the struggling Conservative party, Reform UK, also has its own language – “economic renewal”. It’s a phrase to talk about additional chances in areas like the one I was raised in, in the region. It suggests that an historical manufacturing base can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.

For the public, it must appear as a déjà vu experience. Same issue, alternative phrasing. But – as yet – no results.

Lessons for the Future

Whether the government and opposition want to escape the same fate, both these parties should understand the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that fair chance language is one thing, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is much harder. Britain’s persistently low equal opportunity remains the primary challenge for our country, with the next generation unable to get a good job beginning, those laboring in employment with minimal progress after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any real hope their children will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can discuss equal chances as much as they want. However, which party has the organization that has the complete plan on equal opportunity? None appear to exist. Whoever gets there first, wins. Not just for themselves, but, significantly, for a entire nation that has never needed equal access so desperately.