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As the struggling Tories convenes in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its future direction. There is uncertainty if a viable path is available. We are in challenging circumstances for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the public.

The Missed Opportunity

The situation might have been markedly improved if real advances had been made on an priority that matters to people across the country: Equal opportunity. But the former leadership hadn’t got the first clue on how to transform the trendy talk on levelling up into actual implementation. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it argued over what the concept actually signified.

It seemed strange to me, because I had previously explained to the Prime Minister what levelling up entailed when we first spoke about it during the contest for party leader. The phrase was a term I developed and used at the education ministry to talk about equal opportunity. It served as our guiding principle, and its meaning is straightforward: social mobility is the means by which we realize fair chances – without removing opportunity away from those who already have it, but rather by expanding chances to those that lack them.

Essential Principle

Another crucial ministry expression we used, “talent is spread evenly across our country, yet chances are not”, represented another a deliberate expression, representing the dual components of a social mobility strategy. To begin with, ability distributed uniformly but not developed consistently through our learning institutions. Second, chances not distributed fairly by businesses or our economic system. Therefore, learning and employment were key to achieving stronger social mobility. This represented an agenda about the community framework of our country – investing in people’s potential and connecting them to prospects.

What Levelling Up Became

What did levelling up become under the previous government? A towns fund managed by the DLUHC. Street beautification and redeveloped traffic systems. A white paper was released nearly three years after the Prime Minister took office, which saw ongoing initiatives rebadged under the new levelling up banner.

As a result, a broader social mobility agenda went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it could have inspired – in investment, enterprise, fiscal strategy, revenue and in community development. Additionally, in education, including a university system that has become a scapegoat for elected officials – although it remains the most powerful engine of upward movement for young working-class people, personally, this country has had throughout modern times. Possibly the sole mechanism of social mobility, operating at scale.

The Importance of Aspiration

Hope is crucial for our country to thrive. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a realistic expectation that effort and reward are connected; that if people aspire, they can achieve. For political leadership, being able to create a feeling of hope about the future is critical. Research by the research body at the academic establishment and others, newly available, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I launched while in office – locally targeted strategies to boosting academic achievement – led to young people in those areas being up to a significant margin more hopeful about their life ahead than those in comparable communities without these schemes in place. The research confirms: just making an sincere effort on equal chance initiatives can swiftly and beneficially change how people feel about their destiny.

Lost Potential

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its new leader election, in autumn 2022, the ruling party ended the initiatives. What reason would someone in those communities vote for a organization that made that decision? The opportunity areas policy is a clear case of what could have been a revolutionary Tory policy platform on levelling up, but that chance was totally misused. Strategies such as this can generate optimism and ambition. Conversely, as the Conservatives found out, breaking the promise of social mobility is the costliest mistake any political party can make. The public held accountable the administration for its incompetence but, primarily, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

The Current Landscape

At present the mandate on life chances and equality of opportunity has passed to a opposition party. The previous terminology has been abandoned. The new government has its own political rhetoric of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The organization that is steadily supplanting the failing Tories, the challenger, also has its own language – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about fresh prospects in areas like the one I grew up in, in my hometown. It promises that an former economic strength can revive into an revitalized economy.

For the public, it must feel like a repetitive cycle. Identical problem, different language. Yet, currently, little improvement.

The Way Forward

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the same fate, each group should understand the Tories’ mistakes on levelling up; that fair chance language is easy to say, but effective implementation of fairer outcomes is much harder. The UK’s chronically poor social mobility remains the central problem for our country, with youth unable to get a decent career start, those working hard in full-time jobs with minimal progress after the rent has been paid, and citizens throughout the UK without any actual expectation their children will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Leaders can talk about equal chances however much they like. However, which party has the political group that has the thorough strategy on life chances? I see none. Whichever party succeeds initially, succeeds. Not just for their organization, but, significantly, for a whole country that has urgently needs equal access so urgently.