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While the beleaguered Tories convenes in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its next steps. There is uncertainty if a road forward exists at all. These are difficult days for a political party that now has little, if anything, new or unique to say to the electorate.

What Could Have Been

The situation might have been markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that resonates with people across the country: Social mobility. However the previous administration hadn’t got the basic understanding on how to transform the popular slogan on levelling up into concrete action. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it argued over what the phrase actually signified.

I found it bizarre, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what levelling up entailed when we originally talked about it during the contest for party leader. The expression was a term I developed and used at the DfE to talk about social mobility. It was our core mission, and its definition is clear: social mobility is the means by which we achieve equal access – without removing prospects away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by providing options to those that don’t.

Fundamental Idea

Another crucial ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared throughout the nation, however access isn’t”, represented another a purposeful phrase, representing the two parts of a social mobility strategy. First, potential shared equally but not cultivated evenly through our education system. Additionally, access not provided uniformly by businesses or our market. As a result, schools and companies were key to achieving stronger social mobility. This represented an agenda about the community framework of our country – supporting human talent and providing access to opportunities.

The Reality of Implementation

What did the social mobility agenda become under Johnson’s Conservatives? Local investment schemes administered out of the DLUHC. Street beautification and redeveloped traffic systems. A white paper was released nearly three years after the leadership change, which saw current strategies repackaged under the new levelling up banner.

As a result, a broader social mobility agenda went unpursued, as well as all the reform that it could have inspired – in investment, commerce, economic policy, tax and in community development. Additionally, in schooling, including a university system that has become a scapegoat for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the strongest driver of upward movement for young working-class people, personally, this country has had in recent decades. Maybe the only engine of equal opportunity, operating at scale.

The Role of Ambition

Aspiration is vital for our country to thrive. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a believable feeling that dedication and outcome are linked; that if people dream big, they can achieve. For any government, being able to foster a feeling of hope about the tomorrow is crucial. Research by the Institute for Policy Research at the university and others, newly available, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I established during my tenure – community-focused methods to improving education outcomes – led to youth in those communities being up to a significant margin more positive about their prospects than those in comparable communities without these programmes in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on fair opportunity strategies can quickly and positively change how people feel about their destiny.

Lost Potential

Oblivious to this, and in the midst of its successor selection process, in that period, the ruling party closed opportunity areas down. Why should any person in those communities vote for a organization that took that action? The targeted programme is a clear case of what could have been a game-changing Conservative government agenda on levelling up, but that opportunity was hopelessly squandered. Approaches such as this can generate optimism and ambition. In contrast, as the ruling party found out, breaking the promise of fair chances is the biggest blunder any political party can make. The public held accountable the government for its incompetence but, perhaps most of all, for its unfulfilled commitments on equal opportunity.

Today’s Political Reality

Now the baton on social mobility and equality of opportunity has been transferred to a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. The current administration has its own political rhetoric of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The organization that is gradually replacing the failing Conservative party, Reform UK, also has its own terminology – “industrial revival”. It’s a phrase to talk about fresh prospects in areas like the one I come from, in South Yorkshire. It claims that an industrial past can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.

To the electorate, it must feel like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Identical problem, new terminology. However, so far, no progress.

The Way Forward

Should the current and alternative parties want to avoid the same fate, the respective organizations should learn from the Conservatives’ failure on social mobility; that fair chance language is one thing, but effective implementation of improved opportunities is far more challenging. The UK’s endemically weak equal opportunity remains the central problem for our country, with youth unable to get a good job beginning, those laboring in full-time jobs with few results after the living expenses are met, and citizens throughout the UK without any genuine belief their next generation will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Leaders can discuss improved access as much as they want. But where is the organization that has the thorough strategy on social mobility? I observe no such party. Whoever gets there first, wins. Not just for their organization, but, crucially, for a complete society that has desperately requires equality of opportunity so urgently.