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As the existentially challenged Conservative party meets in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its future direction. Doubt remains if a clear direction remains open. These are difficult days for a governing group that now has almost nothing, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the electorate.

What Could Have Been

The situation might have been so different if tangible progress had been made on an priority that matters to people across the country: Equal opportunity. Yet the previous administration hadn’t got the first clue on how to convert the popular slogan on social mobility into policy reality. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it argued over what the phrase truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I had previously explained to the Prime Minister what social mobility signified when we initially discussed about it during his leadership campaign. The expression was language I created and used at the education ministry to talk about social mobility. It was our core mission, and its purpose is unambiguous: levelling up is the method by which we achieve equal access – not by taking opportunity away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by extending chances to those that are without.

Fundamental Idea

An additional vital ministry expression we used, “ability is distributed uniformly around the UK, but opportunity is not”, again was a purposeful phrase, reflecting the two halves of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, ability distributed uniformly but not cultivated evenly through our learning institutions. Second, opportunities not spread evenly by employers or our economic system. Therefore, learning and employment were essential to achieving better life chances. This represented an mission about the community framework of our country – fostering human talent and connecting them to prospects.

The Reality of Implementation

How did the social mobility agenda turn into under the Tory administration? Regional development money managed by the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. A white paper was launched nearly three years after the Prime Minister took office, which saw current strategies rebadged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

As a result, a wider fairness strategy went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it might have driven – in funding, business, economic policy, tax and in place-making. And, of course, in learning, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the most powerful engine of social mobility for young working-class people, personally, this country has had over the past 30 years. Possibly the primary source of social mobility, functioning widely.

The Importance of Aspiration

Aspiration is essential for our country to succeed. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a believable feeling that hard work and results are related; that if people dream big, they can achieve. For any government, being able to foster a outlook of positivity about the years ahead is critical. Studies by the research body at the university and others, published last month, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to improving education outcomes – led to youth in those areas being up to a significant margin more positive about their life ahead than those in equivalent locations without these schemes in place. The evidence is clear: just making an authentic start on pro-social mobility policy can swiftly and beneficially change how people perceive their future.

Squandered Chances

Unaware of these findings, and in the throes of its successor selection process, in that period, the Conservative government closed opportunity areas down. What reason would someone in those communities vote for a organization that did that? The opportunity areas policy is a clear case of what had the potential to be a revolutionary administration strategy on levelling up, but that chance was hopelessly squandered. Strategies such as this can create belief and drive. On the other hand, as the Tories found out, reneging on commitments of social mobility is the biggest blunder any leadership can make. The public held accountable the leadership for its failure but, above all, for its failed pledges on levelling up.

Today’s Political Reality

Currently the responsibility on life chances and equality of opportunity has passed to a new administration. The previous terminology has been abandoned. The current administration has its own political rhetoric of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The political group that is steadily supplanting the failing incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own message – “economic renewal”. This expression to talk about additional chances in regions like the one I was raised in, in my hometown. It promises that an industrial past can revive into an industrial future.

For voters, it must seem like a repetitive cycle. Same issue, new terminology. But – as yet – no results.

Lessons for the Future

Whether the government and opposition want to escape the similar destiny, each group should learn from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is one thing, but successful delivery of improved opportunities is significantly more difficult. The UK’s endemically weak social mobility remains the primary challenge for our country, with youth unable to get a decent career start, those putting in effort in occupations with minimal progress after the living expenses are met, and citizens throughout the UK without any actual expectation their offspring will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Leaders can talk about equal chances however much they like. Yet where is the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on equal opportunity? I see none. Whichever party succeeds initially, wins. Not just for themselves, but, more importantly, for a entire nation that has urgently needs fair chances so urgently.