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As the existentially challenged Tories convenes in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its path forward. There is uncertainty if a clear direction remains open. These are tough times for a governing group that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to voters.

The Missed Opportunity

Things could have turned out vastly better if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that is important for people nationwide: Levelling up. But the former leadership lacked the first clue on how to convert the trendy talk on levelling up into policy reality. Over twenty-four months after the 2019 election, it debated what the concept even meant.

It seemed strange to me, because I had previously explained to Johnson what levelling up meant when we first spoke about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was language I created and used at the DfE to talk about social mobility. This became our guiding principle, and its purpose is unambiguous: levelling up is the means by which we achieve fair chances – without removing opportunity away from those who already have it, but rather by expanding chances to those that lack them.

Fundamental Idea

An additional vital DfE phrase we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, but opportunity is not”, represented another a deliberate expression, reflecting the two parts of a fairness agenda. First, ability distributed uniformly but not developed consistently through our education system. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by employers or our economic system. Thus, schools and companies were crucial to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This was an priority about the societal structure of our country – fostering people’s potential and providing access to prospects.

The Actual Outcome

What did levelling up become under the Tory administration? Regional development money managed by the DLUHC. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. A government strategy was released nearly three years after the Prime Minister took office, which saw ongoing initiatives rebadged under the recently branded agenda.

Consequently, a broader social mobility agenda went unpursued, as well as all the reform that it could have inspired – in capital, enterprise, economic policy, tax and in place-making. And, of course, in learning, including a university system that has become a scapegoat for elected officials – although it remains the most powerful engine of life improvement for individuals from less privileged homes, like me, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the only engine of social mobility, functioning widely.

The Importance of Aspiration

Ambition is crucial for our country to prosper. For hope to exist, there needs to be a credible sense that hard work and results are linked; that if people aspire, they can succeed. For all administrations, being able to instil a feeling of hope about the tomorrow is crucial. Studies by the academic institution at the university and others, newly available, showed that the education department’s targeted regions I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to improving education outcomes – led to students in those communities being up to nearly one-fifth more hopeful about their future than those in comparable communities without these programmes in place. The data shows: just making an sincere effort on equal chance initiatives can quickly and positively change how people feel about their prospects.

Missed Opportunities

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in autumn 2022, the Tory administration closed opportunity areas down. Why should any person in those communities vote for a organization that made that decision? The targeted programme is a single instance of what could have been a game-changing administration strategy on levelling up, but that opportunity was totally misused. Methods such as this can create belief and drive. On the other hand, as the Tories learned, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The public held accountable the government for its incompetence but, primarily, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

The Current Landscape

At present the mandate on equal opportunity and fair access has passed to a opposition party. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. The current administration has its own political rhetoric of “removing obstacles to success”. The party that is increasingly displacing the struggling Conservative party, the alternative party, also has its own terminology – “reindustrialisation”. The terminology to talk about fresh prospects in regions like the one I was raised in, in the region. It promises that an historical manufacturing base can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.

To the electorate, it must feel like a déjà vu experience. Similar challenge, different language. However, so far, no progress.

Lessons for the Future

Whether the government and opposition want to escape the same fate, the respective organizations should learn from the Tories’ mistakes on social mobility; that fair chance language is easy to say, but effective implementation of improved opportunities is far more challenging. Britain’s persistently low equal opportunity remains the central problem for our country, with the next generation unable to get a good job beginning, those working hard in occupations with few results after the living expenses are met, and individuals nationwide without any real hope their children will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Leaders can discuss improved access however much they like. But where is the organization that has the complete plan on life chances? I observe no such party. The first to achieve this, succeeds. Not only for their organization, but, more importantly, for a whole country that has desperately requires fair chances so badly.