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As the existentially challenged Conservative party meets in its conference city for its yearly gathering, it has plenty to consider regarding its path forward. It’s not even clear if a viable path exists at all. These are tough times for a governing group that now has almost nothing, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the public.

An Alternate Reality

Things could have turned out markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that is important for people nationwide: Social mobility. However the previous administration hadn’t got the slightest idea on how to convert the popular slogan on levelling up into policy reality. For the two years after the 2019 election, it debated what the phrase actually signified.

It seemed strange to me, because I’d already told the Prime Minister what levelling up signified when we initially discussed about it during his leadership campaign. This terminology was language I created and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. It served as our departmental mantra, and its meaning is clear: social mobility is the approach by which we realize equality of opportunity – not by taking prospects away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by extending opportunities to those that don’t.

Essential Principle

The other key ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, however access isn’t”, again was a intentional wording, embodying the two parts of a social mobility strategy. To begin with, talent spread evenly but not cultivated evenly through our education system. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by employers or our economy. Therefore, education and business were key to achieving stronger social mobility. This constituted an mission about the community framework of our country – supporting individual capabilities and providing access to prospects.

The Reality of Implementation

How did the social mobility agenda become under the previous government? Local investment schemes overseen from the DLUHC. Street beautification and redeveloped traffic systems. An official policy document was released a significant period after the leadership change, which saw ongoing initiatives rebadged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

As a result, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went ignored, as well as all the improvement that it could have inspired – in funding, business, economic policy, tax and in local regeneration. And, of course, in learning, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the primary vehicle of upward movement for young working-class people, like me, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the primary source of equal opportunity, functioning widely.

The Role of Ambition

Aspiration is crucial for our country to thrive. For hope to exist, there needs to be a believable feeling that effort and reward are related; that if people dream big, they can succeed. For all administrations, being able to foster a outlook of positivity about the tomorrow is critical. Analysis by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, published last month, 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 communities being up to a significant margin more optimistic about their prospects than those in comparable communities without these schemes in place. The data shows: just making an genuine beginning on pro-social mobility policy can rapidly and effectively change how people view their destiny.

Missed Opportunities

Oblivious to this, and in the middle of its successor selection process, in September 2022, the Tory administration terminated the programmes. Why would anyone in those communities vote for a organization that took that action? This specific initiative is a single instance of what had the potential to be a game-changing administration strategy on levelling up, but that chance was completely wasted. Approaches such as this can generate optimism and ambition. Conversely, as the ruling party discovered, failing to deliver of equal opportunity is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The electorate held accountable the leadership for its failure but, above all, for its unfulfilled commitments on levelling up.

Today’s Political Reality

Now the mandate on life chances and fair access has passed to a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. Labour has its own public messaging of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The political group that is steadily supplanting the failing incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own message – “reindustrialisation”. This expression to talk about additional chances in communities like the one I was raised in, in South Yorkshire. It suggests that an historical manufacturing base can revive into an industrial future.

For voters, it must appear as a repetitive cycle. Similar challenge, alternative phrasing. But – as yet – no results.

The Way Forward

Whether the government and opposition want to prevent the similar destiny, the respective organizations should understand the previous government’s errors on social mobility; that fair chance language is one thing, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is significantly more difficult. Our nation’s persistently low equal opportunity remains the primary challenge for our country, with youth unable to get a decent career start, those putting in effort in employment with minimal progress after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any real hope their offspring will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can discuss fairer opportunities repeatedly. However, which party has the party that has the complete plan on life chances? I observe no such party. The first to achieve this, succeeds. Not just for themselves, but, crucially, for a entire nation that has urgently needs equal access so desperately.