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As the beleaguered Conservative party meets in its conference city for its yearly gathering, it has much to ponder regarding its next steps. Doubt remains if a viable path remains open. We are in tough times 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 concrete steps had been made on an policy focus that matters to people nationwide: Levelling up. However the previous administration did not possess the basic understanding on how to transform his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into policy reality. For the two years after the general election, it debated what the concept even meant.

It seemed strange to me, because I’d already told the Prime Minister what social mobility entailed when we originally talked 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 equal opportunity. It was our core mission, and its definition is unambiguous: levelling up is the method by which we realize equality of opportunity – not by taking prospects away from those who possess it, but rather by expanding options to those that lack them.

Essential Principle

The other key DfE phrase we used, “potential is equally shared throughout the nation, yet chances are not”, served as a intentional wording, reflecting the dual components of a social mobility strategy. Initially, talent spread evenly but not developed consistently through our learning institutions. Furthermore, access not provided uniformly by businesses or our market. As a result, education and business were crucial to achieving stronger social mobility. This represented an priority about the societal structure of our country – supporting individual capabilities and connecting them to chances.

What Levelling Up Became

What did levelling up evolve into under the Tory administration? Local investment schemes managed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Decorative floral displays and redeveloped traffic systems. An official policy document was released a significant period after Johnson became leader, which saw ongoing initiatives repackaged under the new levelling up banner.

Therefore, a broader social mobility agenda went unpursued, as well as all the change that it could have inspired – in capital, business, financial planning, revenue and in community development. Additionally, in schooling, including a university system that has become a scapegoat for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the primary vehicle of upward movement for individuals from less privileged homes, like me, this country has had in recent decades. Maybe the only engine of social mobility, functioning widely.

The Importance of Aspiration

Aspiration is essential for our country to prosper. For hope to exist, there needs to be a believable feeling that hard work and results are linked; that if people aim high, they can achieve. For all administrations, being able to foster a sense of optimism about the tomorrow is crucial. Studies by the research body at Bath University and others, published last month, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to boosting academic achievement – led to young people in those communities being up to nearly one-fifth more optimistic about their life ahead than those in comparable communities without these schemes in place. The research confirms: just making an sincere effort on equal chance initiatives can rapidly and effectively change how people view their future.

Squandered Chances

Oblivious to this, and in the throes of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in that period, the Tory administration terminated the programmes. Why would anyone in those communities vote for a party that made that decision? This specific initiative is a single instance of what might have become a transformative administration strategy on levelling up, but that opportunity was totally misused. Methods such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. In contrast, as the ruling party discovered, failing to deliver of equal opportunity is the most expensive error any leadership can make. The public penalized the leadership for its failure but, above all, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

The Current Landscape

At present the responsibility on life chances and equal chances has been transferred to a Labour government. The previous terminology has been cast off. The current administration has its own political rhetoric of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The party that is gradually replacing the struggling Conservative party, the challenger, also has its own message – “economic renewal”. It’s a phrase to talk about additional chances in regions like the one I grew up in, in my hometown. It promises that an former economic strength can revive into an industrial future.

For voters, it must appear as a Groundhog Day-style loop. Similar challenge, new terminology. But – as yet – no results.

Lessons for the Future

Should the current and alternative parties want to avoid the similar destiny, the respective organizations should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on social mobility; that fair chance language is one thing, but effective implementation of improved opportunities is much harder. Our nation’s chronically poor social mobility remains the central problem for our country, with youth unable to get a proper professional launch, those putting in effort in full-time jobs with few results after the living expenses are met, and citizens throughout the UK without any genuine belief their children will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Leaders can mention equal chances however much they like. However, which party has the political group that has the comprehensive policy agenda on equal opportunity? I observe no such party. The first to achieve this, wins. Not just for their party, but, crucially, for a complete society that has desperately requires equality of opportunity so badly.