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As the struggling Conservative party convenes in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its future direction. There is uncertainty if a viable path exists at all. We are in challenging circumstances for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

What Could Have Been

Things could have turned out vastly better if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that matters to people throughout the UK: Equal opportunity. But Boris Johnson’s government hadn’t got the basic understanding on how to transform the popular slogan on levelling up into actual implementation. During the initial period after the general election, it discussed what the term actually signified.

I was perplexed, because I’d already told Johnson what levelling up signified when we first spoke about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a term I developed and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. This became our departmental mantra, and its definition is straightforward: social mobility is the means by which we realize equal access – not through reducing prospects away from those who already have it, but rather by expanding chances to those that don’t.

The Core Concept

An additional vital ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, however access isn’t”, represented another a purposeful phrase, reflecting the dual components of a fairness agenda. First, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our education system. Furthermore, chances not distributed fairly by the private sector or our economy. As a result, learning and employment were essential to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This constituted an mission about the social fabric of our country – supporting individual capabilities and linking them with opportunities.

The Reality of Implementation

What did levelling up evolve into under Johnson’s Conservatives? Local investment schemes managed by the the relevant ministry. Street beautification and redeveloped traffic systems. An official policy document was released almost thirty-six months after the leadership change, which saw current strategies repackaged under the recently branded agenda.

Therefore, a wider fairness strategy went unpursued, as well as all the change that it may have generated – in investment, enterprise, financial planning, taxation and in place-making. Moreover, in learning, including a higher education sector that has become a target for elected officials – although it remains the primary vehicle of upward movement for youth from modest backgrounds, personally, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the sole mechanism of fair chances, operating at scale.

The Importance of Aspiration

Ambition is crucial for our country to succeed. For hope to exist, there needs to be a believable feeling that effort and reward are related; that if people aim high, they can attain. For any government, being able to create a sense of optimism about the years ahead is important. Studies by the academic institution at the university and others, published last month, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to enhancing learning results – led to youth in those neighborhoods being up to nearly one-fifth more positive about their prospects than those in similar areas without these initiatives in place. The research confirms: just making an genuine beginning on equal chance initiatives can swiftly and beneficially change how people feel about their destiny.

Squandered Chances

Ignoring this evidence, and in the middle of its successor selection process, in September 2022, the Tory administration ended the initiatives. Why should any person in those areas vote for a party that did that? The targeted programme is a single instance of what could have been a transformative Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that chance was completely wasted. Strategies such as this can generate optimism and ambition. On the other hand, as the ruling party found out, reneging on commitments of equal opportunity is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The electorate punished the government for its incompetence but, above all, for its unfulfilled commitments on social mobility.

The Current Landscape

Currently the mandate on life chances and equal chances has passed to a new administration. The previous terminology has been cast off. Labour has its own public messaging of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The political group that is gradually replacing the hapless incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own terminology – “economic renewal”. This expression to talk about new opportunities in areas like the one I come from, in my hometown. It suggests that an historical manufacturing base can reincarnate into an industrial future.

To the electorate, it must feel like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Same issue, different language. But – as yet – no results.

What Must Change

Should the current and alternative parties want to escape the identical outcome, both these parties should learn from the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that equal opportunity talk is simple terminology, but effective implementation of more equal results is far more challenging. The UK’s chronically poor life chances remains the primary challenge for our country, with young people unable to get a proper professional launch, those working hard in occupations with little to show after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any real hope their next generation will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Elected officials can mention fairer opportunities however much they like. Yet where is the political group that has the thorough strategy on life chances? I observe no such party. Whichever party succeeds initially, prevails. Not only for themselves, but, more importantly, for a complete society that has urgently needs equal access so desperately.