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As the struggling Conservative party meets in Manchester for its yearly gathering, 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 almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to voters.

An Alternate Reality

It could have been so different if real advances had been made on an priority that is important for people nationwide: Equal opportunity. But Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the slightest idea on how to transform the trendy talk on social mobility into actual implementation. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it argued over what the phrase even meant.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what levelling up meant when we originally talked about it during his leadership campaign. The expression was language I created and used at the DfE to talk about social mobility. It served as our guiding principle, and its definition is clear: levelling up is the method by which we achieve fair chances – not through reducing chances away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by providing options to those that don’t.

Fundamental Idea

The other key ministry expression we used, “talent is spread evenly throughout the nation, yet chances are not”, served as a intentional wording, representing the two halves of a fairness agenda. First, ability distributed uniformly but not developed consistently through our schools and colleges. Furthermore, access not provided uniformly by businesses or our market. As a result, education and business were essential to achieving better life chances. This represented an priority about the social fabric of our country – investing in human talent and connecting them to prospects.

The Reality of Implementation

What did the social mobility agenda turn into under the previous government? Regional development money overseen from the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and redeveloped traffic systems. A government strategy was launched nearly three years after Johnson became leader, which saw ongoing initiatives relabelled under the fresh social mobility slogan.

As a result, a wider fairness strategy went undeveloped, as well as all the reform that it might have driven – in investment, enterprise, economic policy, tax and in local regeneration. And, of course, in learning, including a higher education sector that has become a scapegoat for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the primary vehicle of social mobility for youth from modest backgrounds, like me, this country has had over the past 30 years. Maybe the primary source of fair chances, operating at scale.

Why Hope Matters

Ambition is vital for our country to thrive. To foster ambition, there needs to be a credible sense that hard work and results are connected; that if people dream big, they can attain. For all administrations, being able to foster a feeling of hope about the tomorrow is crucial. Studies by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, recently released, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to boosting academic achievement – led to students in those neighborhoods being up to 18 percentage points more positive about their future than those in comparable communities without these initiatives in place. The evidence is clear: just making an genuine beginning on fair opportunity strategies can swiftly and beneficially change how people perceive their destiny.

Missed Opportunities

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its new leader election, in that period, the Tory administration terminated the programmes. Why would anyone in those areas vote for a organization that did that? The targeted programme is a clear case of what might have become a game-changing Tory policy platform on levelling up, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Methods such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. On the other hand, as the Conservatives found out, breaking the promise of social mobility is the most expensive error any government can make. Voters penalized the administration for its incompetence but, perhaps most of all, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

Present Circumstances

Now the responsibility on social mobility and fair access has been taken up by a new administration. The old slogan has been discarded. The new government has its own public messaging of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The party that is gradually replacing the hapless incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. It’s a phrase to talk about new opportunities in communities like the one I come from, in my hometown. It claims that an former economic strength can be reborn into an revitalized economy.

For voters, it must seem like a déjà vu experience. Same issue, new terminology. Yet, currently, little improvement.

The Way Forward

If Labour and Reform UK want to avoid the same fate, both these parties should learn from the Tories’ mistakes on levelling up; that equal opportunity talk is easy to say, but successful delivery of improved opportunities is far more challenging. The UK’s chronically poor life chances remains the central problem for our country, with the next generation unable to get a decent career start, those laboring in employment with little to show after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any actual expectation their children will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can mention equal chances as much as they want. But where is the organization that has the comprehensive policy agenda on equal opportunity? None appear to exist. The first to achieve this, prevails. Not just for themselves, but, significantly, for a whole country that has never needed fair chances so urgently.