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As the struggling Conservative party gathers in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has much to ponder regarding its future direction. There is uncertainty if a road forward exists at all. These are challenging circumstances for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to voters.

An Alternate Reality

Things could have turned out vastly better if concrete steps had been made on an policy focus that is important for people nationwide: Equal opportunity. But the former leadership did not possess the first clue on how to turn his zeitgeisty rhetoric on levelling up into concrete action. Over twenty-four months after the 2019 election, it argued over what the concept truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what social mobility entailed when we first spoke about it during the contest for party leader. The expression was a term I developed and used at the Department for Education to talk about social mobility. It was our guiding principle, and its purpose is unambiguous: levelling up is the approach by which we realize 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

Another crucial DfE phrase we used, “talent is spread evenly throughout the nation, however access isn’t”, served as a deliberate expression, reflecting the two halves of a equal opportunity plan. To begin with, ability distributed uniformly but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Furthermore, chances not distributed fairly by businesses or our economy. Thus, learning and employment were crucial to achieving stronger social mobility. This was an agenda about the community framework of our country – supporting individual capabilities and linking them with prospects.

The Reality of Implementation

What did levelling up evolve into under the Tory administration? Regional development money managed by the DLUHC. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. A white paper was released nearly three years after Johnson became leader, which saw current strategies 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 capital, commerce, fiscal strategy, revenue and in community development. Moreover, in learning, including a university system that has become a target for politicians of all stripes – despite the fact that it remains the strongest driver of social mobility for young working-class people, like me, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the sole mechanism of social mobility, functioning widely.

Why Hope Matters

Hope is essential for our country to succeed. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a credible sense that dedication and outcome are related; that if people aim high, they can succeed. For any government, being able to instil a outlook of positivity about the future is crucial. Studies by the academic institution at the university and others, recently released, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I established during my tenure – place-based approaches to enhancing learning results – led to young people in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more positive about their future than those in comparable communities without these schemes in place. The research confirms: just making an genuine beginning on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people perceive their destiny.

Missed Opportunities

Oblivious to this, and in the throes of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in autumn 2022, the ruling party terminated the programmes. Why would anyone in those areas vote for a organization that made that decision? The targeted programme is a clear case of what might have become a revolutionary Tory policy platform on social mobility, but that possibility was totally misused. Strategies such as this can generate optimism and ambition. Conversely, as the ruling party learned, breaking the promise of equal opportunity is the biggest blunder any leadership can make. The electorate held accountable the government for its incompetence but, above all, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

Present Circumstances

Currently the responsibility 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 public messaging of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The political group that is increasingly displacing the failing incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own terminology – “reindustrialisation”. This expression to talk about fresh prospects in areas like the one I come from, in the region. It promises that an industrial past can be reborn into an revitalized economy.

To the electorate, it must seem like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Same issue, alternative phrasing. But – as yet – no results.

Lessons for the Future

If Labour and Reform UK want to escape the same fate, both these parties should understand the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that equal opportunity talk is one thing, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is far more challenging. The UK’s chronically poor life chances remains the key issue for our country, with young people unable to get a good job beginning, those working hard in employment with little to show after the rent has been paid, and citizens throughout the UK without any actual expectation their next generation will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Elected officials can talk about fairer opportunities as much as they want. However, which party has the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on life chances? I observe no such party. Whoever gets there first, prevails. Not just for themselves, but, more importantly, for a entire nation that has never needed equality of opportunity so badly.