I advocated for equal opportunity as the key to Tory success – but Boris Johnson didn’t do it. Observe the consequences.

While the struggling Tories meets in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has much to ponder regarding its next steps. It’s not even clear if a viable path exists at all. We are in challenging circumstances for a political party that now has little, if anything, new or unique to say to the electorate.

An Alternate Reality

Things could have turned out vastly better if concrete steps had been made on an policy focus that matters to people across the country: Social mobility. However the former leadership lacked the slightest idea on how to convert the popular slogan on levelling up into policy reality. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it discussed 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 phrase was language I created and used at the education ministry to talk about equal opportunity. This became our core mission, and its meaning is clear: levelling up is the approach by which we achieve fair chances – without removing prospects away from those who already have it, but rather by expanding options to those that are without.

The Core Concept

Another crucial DfE phrase we used, “ability is distributed uniformly throughout the nation, yet chances are not”, again was a intentional wording, reflecting the two halves of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, potential shared equally but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by the private sector or our economic system. Thus, learning and employment were key to achieving better life chances. This represented an priority about the societal structure of our country – supporting human talent and linking them with prospects.

The Actual Outcome

What did levelling up turn into under the previous government? Local investment schemes managed by the DLUHC. Street beautification and redeveloped traffic systems. A white paper was released a significant period after the leadership change, which saw current strategies repackaged under the new levelling up banner.

Consequently, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went unpursued, as well as all the reform that it might have driven – in investment, enterprise, fiscal strategy, revenue and in local regeneration. And, of course, in education, including a higher education sector that has become a target for elected officials – although it remains the most powerful engine of upward movement for youth from modest backgrounds, like me, this country has had over the past 30 years. Maybe the sole mechanism of social mobility, operating at scale.

Why Hope Matters

Ambition is essential for our country to succeed. To foster ambition, there needs to be a believable feeling that dedication and outcome are linked; that if people aspire, they can achieve. For political leadership, being able to instil a feeling of hope about the years ahead is important. Analysis by the academic institution at Bath University and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to enhancing learning results – led to young people in those areas being up to 18 percentage points more hopeful about their life ahead than those in equivalent locations without these initiatives in place. The research confirms: just making an sincere effort on pro-social mobility policy can swiftly and beneficially change how people view their destiny.

Squandered Chances

Oblivious to this, and in the midst of its new leader election, in that period, the Tory administration terminated the programmes. Why would anyone in those regions vote for a organization that did that? This specific initiative is a clear case of what could have been a transformative Tory policy platform on levelling up, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Strategies such as this can generate optimism and ambition. Conversely, as the Conservatives learned, failing to deliver of social mobility is the most expensive error any political party can make. Voters penalized the government for its failure but, primarily, for its broken promises on levelling up.

Present Circumstances

Currently the baton on equal opportunity and equality of opportunity has passed to a opposition party. The previous terminology has been cast off. The new government has its own policy language of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The organization that is increasingly displacing the failing incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. It’s a phrase to talk about additional chances in communities like the one I come from, in my hometown. It suggests that an industrial past can revive into an revitalized economy.

For the public, it must seem like a déjà vu experience. Identical problem, new terminology. However, so far, no progress.

Lessons for the Future

If Labour and Reform UK want to prevent the identical outcome, the respective organizations should learn from the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is easy to say, but actual achievement of fairer outcomes is far more challenging. Our nation’s endemically weak social mobility remains the central problem for our country, with the next generation unable to get a proper professional launch, those putting in effort in employment with few results after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any real hope their children will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can mention improved access as much as they want. Yet where is the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on social mobility? I see none. Whoever gets there first, wins. Not just for their organization, but, more importantly, for a whole country that has desperately requires fair chances so urgently.