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As the beleaguered Tories convenes in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has plenty to consider regarding its future direction. It’s not even clear if a clear direction is available. We are in tough times for a political party that now has very little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to voters.

What Could Have Been

The situation might have been markedly improved if real advances had been made on an priority that resonates with people across the country: Levelling up. But the former leadership hadn’t got the first clue on how to turn the trendy talk on social mobility into concrete action. For the two years after the 2019 election, it discussed what the concept actually signified.

I was perplexed, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what levelling up meant when we first spoke about it during the contest for party leader. The phrase was a concept I originated and used at the DfE to talk about life chances. This became our guiding principle, and its definition is clear: social mobility is the approach by which we attain fair chances – not by taking chances away from those who already have it, but rather by extending opportunities to those that don’t.

Fundamental Idea

An additional vital ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared around the UK, but opportunity is not”, again was a purposeful phrase, reflecting the dual components of a equal opportunity plan. To begin with, ability distributed uniformly but not cultivated evenly through our schools and colleges. Additionally, chances not distributed fairly by the private sector or our economy. Thus, education and business were crucial to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This represented an priority about the community framework of our country – investing in human talent and connecting them to chances.

The Reality of Implementation

What did levelling up become under the Tory administration? Local investment schemes managed by the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and redeveloped traffic systems. A government strategy was released a significant period after Johnson became leader, which saw existing policy approaches relabelled under the recently branded agenda.

Therefore, a broader social mobility agenda went ignored, as well as all the change that it might have driven – in capital, business, economic policy, taxation and in community development. And, of course, in schooling, including a university system that has become a target for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the most powerful engine of upward movement for individuals from less privileged homes, like me, this country has had throughout modern times. Maybe the primary source of equal opportunity, operating at scale.

Why Hope Matters

Aspiration is essential for our country to prosper. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a believable feeling that dedication and outcome are related; that if people dream big, they can attain. For all administrations, being able to instil a outlook of positivity about the future is important. Analysis by the research body at the university and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to improving education outcomes – led to young people in those neighborhoods being up to nearly one-fifth more hopeful about their prospects than those in comparable communities without these schemes in place. The data shows: just making an sincere effort on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people view their destiny.

Missed Opportunities

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its new leader election, in autumn 2022, the Tory administration ended the initiatives. Why should any person in those communities vote for a political group that took that action? The opportunity areas policy is one example of what might have become a game-changing Tory policy platform on levelling up, but that opportunity was totally misused. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. On the other hand, as the ruling party learned, breaking the promise of equal opportunity is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. Voters punished the government for its incompetence but, above all, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

The Current Landscape

Now the baton on social mobility and equal chances has been transferred to a Labour government. The levelling up rhetoric has been abandoned. The new government has its own policy language of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The party that is increasingly displacing the struggling incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own language – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about new opportunities in areas like the one I grew up in, in my hometown. It claims that an historical manufacturing base can be reborn into an industrial future.

For the public, it must feel like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Identical problem, alternative phrasing. However, so far, no progress.

The Way Forward

Whether the government and opposition want to prevent the similar destiny, both these parties should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that equal opportunity talk is simple terminology, but successful delivery of improved opportunities is much harder. Britain’s endemically weak social mobility remains the primary challenge for our country, with young people unable to get a proper professional launch, those putting in effort in employment with few results after the rent has been paid, and individuals nationwide without any actual expectation their children will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Politicians can discuss improved access however much they like. Yet where is the party that has the thorough strategy on social mobility? I observe no such party. The first to achieve this, wins. Not just for themselves, but, significantly, for a complete society that has never needed equality of opportunity so urgently.