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While the struggling Tories gathers in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its future direction. 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 the electorate.

An Alternate Reality

The situation might have been markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an agenda that resonates with people nationwide: Equal opportunity. However the former leadership hadn’t got the first clue on how to convert the trendy talk on levelling up into actual implementation. During the initial period after the general election, it debated what the phrase actually signified.

It seemed strange to me, because I’d already told the Prime Minister what social mobility meant when we initially discussed about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a term I developed and used at the education ministry to talk about social mobility. It served as our guiding principle, and its definition is straightforward: social mobility is the means by which we realize fair chances – not through reducing chances away from those who possess it, but rather by extending options to those that don’t.

The Core Concept

An additional vital DfE phrase we used, “ability is distributed uniformly throughout the nation, but opportunity is not”, served as a intentional wording, embodying the two parts of a social mobility strategy. Initially, potential shared equally but not developed consistently through our schools and colleges. Furthermore, access not provided uniformly by businesses or our economy. Therefore, schools and companies were key to achieving better life chances. This was an mission about the societal structure of our country – investing in human talent and providing access to chances.

The Actual Outcome

How did the social mobility agenda evolve into under Johnson’s Conservatives? A towns fund overseen from the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. A government strategy was launched a significant period after the Prime Minister took office, which saw existing policy approaches repackaged under the new levelling up banner.

As a result, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it could have inspired – in investment, business, economic policy, revenue and in local regeneration. Moreover, in education, including a university system that has become a target for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the strongest driver of upward movement for youth from modest backgrounds, personally, this country has had over the past 30 years. Possibly the sole mechanism of fair chances, functioning widely.

The Role of Ambition

Hope is vital for our country to thrive. For hope to exist, there needs to be a credible sense that effort and reward are linked; that if people dream big, they can succeed. For political leadership, being able to create a outlook of positivity about the years ahead is important. Research by the academic institution at Bath University and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I established during my tenure – locally targeted strategies to enhancing learning results – led to students in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more positive about their prospects than those in equivalent locations without these schemes in place. The data shows: just making an genuine beginning on equal chance initiatives can swiftly and beneficially change how people view their destiny.

Missed Opportunities

Unaware of these findings, and in the throes of its new leader election, in September 2022, the Conservative government ended the initiatives. Why would anyone in those communities vote for a political group that did that? The targeted programme is a clear case of what could have been a revolutionary administration strategy on social mobility, but that possibility was totally misused. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. On the other hand, as the Conservatives found out, reneging on commitments of equal opportunity is the biggest blunder any government can make. The public held accountable the government for its failure but, perhaps most of all, for its broken promises on equal opportunity.

The Current Landscape

At present the responsibility on equal opportunity and fair access has passed to a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been cast off. The new government has its own political rhetoric of “removing obstacles to success”. The party that is gradually replacing the hapless Tories, the alternative party, also has its own terminology – “economic renewal”. This expression to talk about new opportunities in regions like the one I come from, in the region. It suggests that an former economic strength can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.

For voters, it must feel like a déjà vu experience. Similar challenge, alternative phrasing. Yet, currently, little improvement.

What Must Change

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the same fate, each group should learn from the Tories’ mistakes on social mobility; that social mobility rhetoric is simple terminology, but actual achievement of improved opportunities is significantly more difficult. Britain’s endemically weak equal opportunity remains the central problem for our country, with the next generation unable to get a decent career start, those putting in effort in employment with minimal progress after the housing costs are covered, and individuals nationwide without any real hope their children will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Elected officials can mention improved access repeatedly. However, which party has the organization that has the thorough strategy on life chances? I see none. Whoever gets there first, succeeds. Not just for their party, but, significantly, for a entire nation that has never needed equal access so urgently.