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As the beleaguered Tories gathers in its conference city for its yearly gathering, it has much to ponder regarding its future direction. It’s not even clear if a road forward remains open. We are in difficult days for a political party that now has very little, if anything, new or unique to say to voters.

An Alternate Reality

The situation might have been markedly improved if real advances had been made on an priority that resonates with people across the country: Social mobility. But Boris Johnson’s government lacked the slightest idea on how to turn the trendy talk on levelling up into policy reality. For the two years after the 2019 election, it debated what the concept even meant.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for Johnson what social mobility meant when we originally talked about it during his leadership campaign. This terminology was a concept I originated and used at the education ministry to talk about social mobility. It was our departmental mantra, and its meaning is unambiguous: levelling up is the approach by which we attain equal access – not by taking prospects away from those who possess it, but rather by providing options to those that don’t.

Fundamental Idea

Another crucial education department term we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, but opportunity is not”, served as a intentional wording, reflecting the two halves of a social mobility strategy. First, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our education system. Second, chances not distributed fairly by businesses or our market. As a result, schools and companies were essential to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This was an priority about the societal structure of our country – fostering people’s potential and connecting them to prospects.

The Actual Outcome

What did levelling up turn into under the Tory administration? Regional development money administered out of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Hanging baskets and rearranged intersections. A white paper was published almost thirty-six months after Johnson became leader, which saw existing policy approaches repackaged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

Therefore, a wider fairness strategy went undeveloped, as well as all the reform that it could have inspired – in investment, commerce, fiscal strategy, tax and in local regeneration. Additionally, in learning, including a university system that has become a scapegoat for politicians of all stripes – despite the fact that it remains the primary vehicle of life improvement for youth from modest backgrounds, personally, this country has had over the past 30 years. Maybe the only engine of fair chances, operating at scale.

The Importance of Aspiration

Ambition is essential for our country to thrive. For hope to exist, there needs to be a realistic expectation that hard work and results are linked; that if people aspire, they can attain. For any government, being able to create a feeling of hope about the future is critical. Studies by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, recently released, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I launched while in office – community-focused methods to improving education outcomes – led to young people in those neighborhoods being up to nearly one-fifth more optimistic about their prospects than those in comparable communities without these programmes in place. The evidence is clear: just making an authentic start on fair opportunity strategies can rapidly and effectively change how people feel about their destiny.

Lost Potential

Unaware of these findings, and in the midst of its successor selection process, in September 2022, the Conservative government terminated the programmes. Why should any person in those communities vote for a political group that made that decision? This specific initiative is a single instance of what could have been a revolutionary Conservative government agenda on levelling up, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. In contrast, as the ruling party learned, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The electorate held accountable the leadership for its failure but, perhaps most of all, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

The Current Landscape

At present the mandate on life chances and equality of opportunity has been transferred to a new administration. The old slogan has been discarded. The new government has its own political rhetoric of “removing obstacles to success”. The political group that is gradually replacing the struggling incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own message – “economic renewal”. It’s a phrase to talk about new opportunities in areas like the one I come from, in the region. It suggests that an former economic strength can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.

For the public, it must appear as a repetitive cycle. Identical problem, new terminology. Yet, currently, little improvement.

Lessons for the Future

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the same fate, the respective organizations should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is one thing, but successful delivery of improved opportunities is much harder. The UK’s persistently low equal opportunity remains the central problem for our country, with young people unable to get a proper professional launch, those working hard in occupations with minimal progress after the rent has been paid, and individuals nationwide without any genuine belief their children will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can mention improved access as much as they want. Yet where is the party that has the complete plan on social mobility? I observe no such party. The first to achieve this, wins. Not just for themselves, but, more importantly, for a complete society that has urgently needs equal access so urgently.