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As the struggling Tories convenes in its conference city for its yearly gathering, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its next steps. Doubt remains if a road forward remains open. These are difficult days for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the public.

An Alternate Reality

Things could have turned out markedly improved if concrete steps had been made on an priority that resonates with people across the country: Social mobility. However the previous administration lacked the first clue on how to transform his zeitgeisty rhetoric on levelling up into concrete action. For the two years after the general election, it discussed what the concept truly represented.

I was perplexed, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what levelling up entailed when we initially discussed about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a term I developed and used at the education ministry to talk about social mobility. It served as our core mission, and its purpose is unambiguous: social mobility is the method by which we realize fair chances – without removing opportunity away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by expanding opportunities to those that don’t.

The Core Concept

An additional vital DfE phrase we used, “talent is spread evenly throughout the nation, however access isn’t”, represented another a intentional wording, representing the two parts of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, talent spread evenly but not developed consistently through our schools and colleges. Additionally, access not provided uniformly by the private sector or our economy. As a result, learning and employment were essential to achieving stronger social mobility. This represented an priority about the societal structure of our country – investing in human talent and providing access to opportunities.

What Levelling Up Became

How did the social mobility agenda become under the previous government? A towns fund overseen from the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. An official policy document was launched nearly three years after Johnson became leader, which saw existing policy approaches relabelled under the recently branded agenda.

Therefore, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it could have inspired – in capital, business, economic policy, tax and in local regeneration. Moreover, in learning, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for leaders across parties – despite the fact that it remains the most powerful engine of social mobility for individuals from less privileged homes, like me, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the primary source of equal opportunity, functioning widely.

The Role of Ambition

Aspiration is crucial for our country to succeed. For hope to exist, there needs to be a realistic expectation that effort and reward are related; that if people aspire, they can achieve. For all administrations, being able to foster a feeling of hope about the years ahead is important. Studies by the Institute for Policy Research at the university and others, newly available, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” 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 future than those in comparable communities without these programmes in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on equal chance initiatives can swiftly and beneficially change how people feel about their destiny.

Lost Potential

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its successor selection process, in that period, the ruling party terminated the programmes. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a party that took that action? This specific initiative is a clear case of what had the potential to be a revolutionary Tory policy platform on social mobility, but that chance was totally misused. Methods such as this can generate optimism and ambition. On the other hand, as the Tories discovered, failing to deliver of social mobility is the biggest blunder any leadership can make. Voters penalized the administration for its failure but, primarily, for its broken promises on equal opportunity.

The Current Landscape

Now the mandate on social mobility and equality of opportunity has been taken up by a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been discarded. Labour has its own political rhetoric of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The party that is gradually replacing the failing incumbents, the challenger, also has its own language – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about new opportunities in regions like the one I was raised in, in the region. It promises that an former economic strength can be reborn into an modern manufacturing sector.

For voters, it must appear as a déjà vu experience. Similar challenge, alternative phrasing. However, so far, no progress.

Lessons for the Future

If Labour and Reform UK want to escape the same fate, the respective organizations should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that equal opportunity talk is simple terminology, but successful delivery of more equal results is far more challenging. Britain’s endemically weak life chances remains the key issue 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 real hope their next generation will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Leaders can mention fairer opportunities however much they like. However, which party has the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on social mobility? I see none. Whoever gets there first, wins. Not just for their party, but, more importantly, for a complete society that has never needed equal access so badly.