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As the existentially challenged Tories meets in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its path forward. There is uncertainty if a clear direction remains open. These are difficult days for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the electorate.

What Could Have Been

It could have been markedly improved if concrete steps had been made on an agenda that resonates with people throughout the UK: Equal opportunity. However the previous administration did not possess the basic understanding on how to turn the popular slogan on levelling up into actual implementation. For the two years after the 2019 election, it argued over what the concept truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for Johnson what social mobility meant when we originally talked about it during the contest for party leader. The phrase was a concept I originated and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. This became our departmental mantra, and its definition is clear: social mobility is the approach by which we realize equality of opportunity – without removing chances away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by providing chances to those that don’t.

Essential Principle

The other key ministry expression we used, “ability is distributed uniformly across our country, yet chances are not”, served as a purposeful phrase, representing the two parts of a social mobility strategy. Initially, ability distributed uniformly but not developed consistently through our schools and colleges. Furthermore, access not provided uniformly by the private sector or our market. Thus, schools and companies were essential to achieving stronger social mobility. This was an agenda about the community framework of our country – investing in individual capabilities and linking them with prospects.

The Reality of Implementation

What did the social mobility agenda turn into under the Tory administration? Local investment schemes overseen from the DLUHC. Hanging baskets and rearranged intersections. An official policy document was launched a significant period after Johnson became leader, which saw current strategies relabelled under the recently branded agenda.

Consequently, a wider fairness strategy went ignored, as well as all the reform that it could have inspired – in investment, business, economic policy, tax and in place-making. Additionally, in schooling, including a tertiary education that has become a punchbag for elected officials – although it remains the most powerful engine of life improvement for youth from modest backgrounds, like me, this country has had over the past 30 years. Possibly the sole mechanism of fair chances, working extensively.

The Importance of Aspiration

Hope is vital for our country to prosper. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a credible sense that effort and reward are linked; that if people dream big, they can succeed. For political leadership, being able to create a outlook of positivity about the tomorrow is crucial. Research by the Institute for Policy Research at the university and others, published last month, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to improving education outcomes – led to students in those neighborhoods being up to 18 percentage points more optimistic about their prospects than those in equivalent locations without these programmes in place. The research confirms: just making an authentic start on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people feel about their destiny.

Missed Opportunities

Ignoring this evidence, 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 party that did that? The opportunity areas policy is one example of what had the potential to be a transformative Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Methods such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. In contrast, as the ruling party discovered, breaking the promise of social mobility is the most expensive error any government can make. The electorate punished the leadership for its incompetence but, primarily, for its broken promises on social mobility.

Today’s Political Reality

At present the mandate on equal opportunity and fair access has passed to a Labour government. The old slogan has been abandoned. Labour has its own policy language of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The political group that is increasingly displacing the hapless Tories, the alternative party, also has its own language – “industrial revival”. It’s a phrase to talk about additional chances in regions like the one I grew up in, 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. However, so far, no progress.

Lessons for the Future

Should the current and alternative parties want to avoid the same fate, the respective organizations should understand the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that fair chance language is one thing, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is far more challenging. The UK’s persistently low life chances remains the primary challenge for our country, with young people unable to get a good job beginning, those working hard in employment with little to show after the living expenses are met, and individuals nationwide without any real hope their next generation will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Leaders can mention equal chances as much as they want. Yet where is the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on life chances? I see none. Whichever party succeeds initially, prevails. Not just for their organization, but, crucially, for a whole country that has desperately requires equality of opportunity so desperately.