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As the beleaguered Conservative party convenes in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has plenty to consider regarding its next steps. There is uncertainty if a road forward exists at all. We are in tough times for a governing group that now has very little, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

What Could Have Been

Things could have turned out vastly better if real advances had been made on an policy focus that is important for people throughout the UK: Social mobility. Yet Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the slightest idea on how to transform his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into actual implementation. During the initial period after the general election, it debated what the term truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for Johnson what social mobility signified when we first spoke about it during his leadership campaign. The phrase was a concept I originated and used at the DfE to talk about social mobility. This became our core mission, and its purpose is unambiguous: social mobility is the method by which we attain fair chances – not through reducing chances away from those who already have it, but rather by extending opportunities to those that are without.

Fundamental Idea

Another crucial ministry expression we used, “ability is distributed uniformly across our country, yet chances are not”, served as a purposeful phrase, reflecting the dual components of a social mobility strategy. Initially, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Second, chances not distributed fairly by employers or our economy. Thus, education and business were key to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This was an agenda about the social fabric of our country – fostering individual capabilities and linking them with chances.

The Reality of Implementation

What did levelling up turn into under the previous government? A towns fund overseen from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. A white paper was released nearly three years after the leadership change, which saw existing policy approaches rebadged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

Therefore, a broader social mobility agenda went ignored, as well as all the change that it may have generated – in investment, commerce, fiscal strategy, revenue and in place-making. Additionally, in schooling, including a higher education sector that has become a target for leaders across parties – even though it remains the strongest driver of upward movement for individuals from less privileged homes, personally, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the primary source of equal opportunity, operating at scale.

The Importance of Aspiration

Aspiration is essential for our country to succeed. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a believable feeling that hard work and results are connected; that if people dream big, they can achieve. For political leadership, being able to create a outlook of positivity about the tomorrow is important. Studies by the Institute for Policy Research at the academic establishment and others, recently released, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I established during my tenure – place-based approaches to improving education outcomes – led to youth in those communities being up to a significant margin more hopeful about their prospects than those in similar areas without these schemes in place. The data shows: just making an genuine beginning on equal chance initiatives can quickly and positively change how people feel about their prospects.

Lost Potential

Unaware of these findings, and in the middle of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in that period, the Conservative government ended the initiatives. Why would anyone in those regions vote for a organization that did that? The opportunity areas policy is a single instance of what had the potential to be a transformative administration strategy on social mobility, but that chance was hopelessly squandered. Approaches such as this can generate optimism and ambition. Conversely, as the ruling party found out, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The public penalized the government for its incompetence but, primarily, for its failed pledges on social mobility.

The Current Landscape

Currently the responsibility on life chances and fair access has been taken up by a opposition party. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. Labour has its own political rhetoric of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The organization that is gradually replacing the struggling Tories, Reform UK, also has its own message – “economic renewal”. The terminology to talk about new opportunities in communities like the one I come from, in my hometown. It claims that an former economic strength can be reborn into an industrial future.

For the public, it must seem like a repetitive cycle. Identical problem, different language. But – as yet – no results.

The Way Forward

If Labour and Reform UK want to escape the similar destiny, each group should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is simple terminology, but successful delivery of improved opportunities is much harder. The UK’s chronically poor equal opportunity remains the key issue for our country, with young people unable to get a proper professional launch, those putting in effort in full-time jobs with little to show after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any genuine belief their next generation will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Politicians can mention improved access repeatedly. Yet where is the political group that has the complete plan on social mobility? I see none. Whichever party succeeds initially, succeeds. Not just for their organization, but, significantly, for a entire nation that has desperately requires equal access so badly.