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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. It’s not even clear if a viable path remains open. We are in tough times for a political party that now has little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the public.

What Could Have Been

It could have been so different if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that resonates with people across the country: Levelling up. Yet Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the first clue on how to turn the popular slogan on levelling up into actual implementation. For the two years after the general election, it discussed what the term even meant.

I was perplexed, because I had previously explained to Johnson what social mobility meant when we originally talked about it during his leadership campaign. The expression was language I created and used at the DfE to talk about social mobility. It was our guiding principle, and its definition is unambiguous: social mobility is the method by which we achieve equality of opportunity – without removing opportunity away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by expanding opportunities to those that are without.

Essential Principle

The other key DfE phrase we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, but opportunity is not”, represented another a deliberate expression, reflecting the dual components of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, potential shared equally but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Second, opportunities not spread evenly by businesses or our market. As a result, education and business were crucial to achieving stronger social mobility. This represented an agenda about the community framework of our country – fostering human talent and connecting them to prospects.

The Actual Outcome

What did the social mobility agenda turn into under Johnson’s Conservatives? Regional development money administered out of the the relevant ministry. Hanging baskets and rearranged intersections. A white paper was published almost thirty-six months after the Prime Minister took office, which saw existing policy approaches repackaged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

As a result, a wider fairness strategy went ignored, as well as all the change that it might have driven – in funding, business, fiscal strategy, revenue and in local regeneration. Additionally, in education, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for politicians of all stripes – despite the fact that it remains the primary vehicle of life improvement for individuals from less privileged homes, personally, this country has had over the past 30 years. Maybe the only engine of social mobility, functioning widely.

Why Hope Matters

Aspiration is vital for our country to thrive. To foster ambition, there needs to be a realistic expectation that hard work and results are connected; that if people dream big, they can succeed. For any government, being able to foster a outlook of positivity about the tomorrow is critical. Research by the academic institution at Bath University and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to enhancing learning results – led to students in those neighborhoods being up to nearly one-fifth more hopeful about their prospects than those in similar areas without these programmes in place. The research confirms: just making an authentic start on equal chance initiatives can swiftly and beneficially change how people view their prospects.

Missed Opportunities

Ignoring this evidence, and in the middle of its new leader election, in autumn 2022, the Tory administration ended the initiatives. Why should any person in those regions vote for a political group that took that action? The targeted programme is one example of what could have been a game-changing Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Methods such as this can create belief and drive. Conversely, as the Conservatives learned, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the costliest mistake any political party can make. The electorate held accountable the government for its incompetence but, above all, for its broken promises on levelling up.

Present Circumstances

Now the mandate on equal opportunity and equal chances has been taken up by a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. Labour has its own political rhetoric of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The organization that is gradually replacing the hapless incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. The terminology to talk about fresh prospects in areas like the one I was raised in, in my hometown. It claims that an former economic strength can be reborn into an modern manufacturing sector.

For the public, it must feel like a repetitive cycle. Similar challenge, new terminology. Yet, currently, little improvement.

What Must Change

Whether the government and opposition want to prevent the identical outcome, each group should understand the Tories’ mistakes on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is simple terminology, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is far more challenging. Britain’s endemically weak equal opportunity remains the central problem for our country, with the next generation unable to get a good job beginning, those putting in effort in occupations with little to show after the living expenses are met, and individuals nationwide without any genuine belief their children will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Leaders can mention improved access however much they like. But where is the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on equal opportunity? I see none. Whoever gets there first, wins. Not just for their party, but, significantly, for a complete society that has urgently needs fair chances so desperately.