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As the beleaguered Tories convenes in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its next steps. It’s not even clear if a clear direction exists at all. These are challenging circumstances for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to the electorate.

What Could Have Been

It could have been so different if concrete steps had been made on an agenda that is important for people across the country: Equal opportunity. However the previous administration lacked the first clue on how to turn his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into actual implementation. For the two years after the general election, it debated what the concept truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what social mobility signified when we initially discussed about it during the contest for party leader. The expression was language I created and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. It served as our guiding principle, and its definition is clear: social mobility is the means by which we realize equal access – without removing prospects away from those who already have it, but rather by providing options to those that lack them.

Essential Principle

An additional vital education department term we used, “talent is spread evenly across our country, yet chances are not”, again was a intentional wording, reflecting the two parts of a fairness agenda. First, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by the private sector or our economic system. As a result, learning and employment were key to achieving stronger social mobility. This constituted an priority about the social fabric of our country – supporting human talent and providing access to prospects.

What Levelling Up Became

What did levelling up become under the Tory administration? Local investment schemes administered out of the DLUHC. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. A white paper was released a significant period after the leadership change, which saw existing policy approaches relabelled under the new levelling up banner.

Therefore, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went ignored, as well as all the change that it may have generated – in investment, commerce, economic policy, revenue and in local regeneration. And, of course, in education, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the most powerful engine of social mobility for youth from modest backgrounds, including myself, this country has had over the past 30 years. Possibly the only engine of fair chances, operating at scale.

The Role of Ambition

Ambition is vital for our country to succeed. For hope to exist, there needs to be a realistic expectation that hard work and results are connected; that if people aim high, they can attain. For any government, being able to instil a sense of optimism about the tomorrow is critical. Analysis by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, published last month, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to enhancing learning results – led to young people in those communities being up to nearly one-fifth more optimistic about their prospects than those in equivalent locations without these schemes in place. The evidence is clear: just making an authentic start on equal chance initiatives can rapidly and effectively change how people perceive their prospects.

Squandered Chances

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its new leader election, in autumn 2022, the Conservative government ended the initiatives. Why should any person in those communities vote for a party that took that action? This specific initiative is a clear case of what could have been a transformative Tory policy platform on social mobility, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. Conversely, as the Tories found out, breaking the promise of social mobility is the costliest mistake any government can make. Voters punished the administration for its failure but, above all, for its unfulfilled commitments on social mobility.

Today’s Political Reality

At present the mandate on equal opportunity and equality of opportunity has been taken up by a Labour government. The old slogan has been abandoned. The current administration has its own political rhetoric of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The political group that is increasingly displacing the failing incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own language – “economic renewal”. The terminology to talk about fresh prospects in regions like the one I come from, in South Yorkshire. It claims that an former economic strength can revive into an revitalized economy.

To the electorate, it must appear as a Groundhog Day-style loop. Identical problem, different language. But – as yet – no results.

The Way Forward

If Labour and Reform UK want to escape the same fate, each group should learn from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is easy to say, but effective implementation of improved opportunities is much harder. Britain’s chronically poor social mobility remains the primary challenge for our country, with young people unable to get a good job beginning, those putting in effort in occupations with little to show after the rent has been paid, and people across the country without any genuine belief their offspring will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Leaders can talk about improved access however much they like. However, which party has the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on life chances? None appear to exist. The first to achieve this, succeeds. Not just for their organization, but, more importantly, for a whole country that has desperately requires equal access so desperately.