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As the beleaguered Conservative party convenes in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its path forward. Doubt remains if a road forward exists at all. We are in challenging circumstances for a governing group that now has very little, if anything, new or unique to say to the electorate.

An Alternate Reality

It could have been markedly improved if real advances had been made on an priority that resonates with people throughout the UK: Levelling up. Yet the previous administration hadn’t got the first clue on how to transform the popular slogan on social mobility into policy reality. During the initial period after the general election, it argued over what the term even meant.

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 a concept I originated and used at the education ministry to talk about equal opportunity. It was our guiding principle, and its definition is clear: social mobility is the approach by which we realize fair chances – not through reducing opportunity away from those who possess it, but rather by extending opportunities to those that don’t.

Fundamental Idea

Another crucial ministry expression we used, “ability is distributed uniformly around the UK, however access isn’t”, served as a purposeful phrase, representing the two parts of a equal opportunity plan. To begin with, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our education system. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by employers or our economic system. Therefore, education and business were key to achieving stronger social mobility. This represented an agenda about the societal structure of our country – investing in people’s potential and linking them with prospects.

The Reality of Implementation

How did the social mobility agenda turn into under the previous government? Local investment schemes administered out of the DLUHC. Hanging baskets and rearranged intersections. A government strategy was published a significant period after the Prime Minister took office, which saw current strategies rebadged under the new levelling up banner.

As a result, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went unpursued, as well as all the change that it could have inspired – in funding, business, financial planning, tax and in place-making. Moreover, in schooling, including a university system that has become a scapegoat for leaders across parties – even though it remains the most powerful engine of social mobility for individuals from less privileged homes, personally, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the primary source of social mobility, operating at scale.

Why Hope Matters

Ambition is essential for our country to thrive. For hope to exist, there needs to be a credible sense that dedication and outcome are linked; that if people aim high, they can attain. For any government, being able to foster a sense of optimism about the tomorrow is crucial. Analysis by the research body at Bath University and others, recently released, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I launched while in office – community-focused methods to boosting academic achievement – led to young people in those communities being up to a significant margin more hopeful about their life ahead than those in similar areas without these initiatives in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on pro-social mobility policy can quickly and positively change how people perceive their prospects.

Lost Potential

Unaware of these findings, and in the middle of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in that period, the Conservative government closed opportunity areas down. What reason would someone in those areas vote for a organization that took that action? The targeted programme is a single instance of what had the potential to be a transformative administration strategy on levelling up, but that chance was hopelessly squandered. Approaches such as this can create belief and drive. In contrast, as the Tories learned, failing to deliver of social mobility is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The electorate penalized the government for its failure but, above all, for its unfulfilled commitments on social mobility.

The Current Landscape

At present the baton on life chances and fair access has passed to a Labour government. The previous terminology has been abandoned. The new government has its own political rhetoric of “removing obstacles to success”. The political group that is gradually replacing the struggling incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own terminology – “reindustrialisation”. This expression to talk about fresh prospects in areas like the one I was raised in, in South Yorkshire. It claims that an former economic strength can be reborn into an modern manufacturing sector.

To the electorate, it must seem like a déjà vu experience. Same issue, new terminology. However, so far, no progress.

The Way Forward

Should the current and alternative parties want to avoid the similar destiny, both these parties should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is one thing, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is significantly more difficult. Our nation’s endemically weak social mobility remains the central problem for our country, with youth unable to get a proper professional launch, those laboring in occupations with little to show after the living expenses are met, and citizens throughout the UK without any genuine belief their children will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Elected officials can mention improved access as much as they want. However, which party has the political group that has the thorough strategy on equal opportunity? I observe no such party. Whoever gets there first, wins. Not only for their organization, but, crucially, for a complete society that has never needed equality of opportunity so urgently.