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As the existentially challenged Tories meets in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its next steps. It’s not even clear if a clear direction exists at all. These are difficult days for a governing group that now has almost nothing, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the public.

The Missed Opportunity

Things could have turned out markedly improved if real advances had been made on an agenda that is important for people throughout the UK: Social mobility. However the previous administration did not possess the slightest idea on how to convert his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into policy reality. Over twenty-four months after the general election, it debated what the term truly represented.

It seemed strange to me, because I’d already told Johnson what social mobility entailed when we originally talked about it during his leadership campaign. The expression was a term I developed and used at the DfE to talk about social mobility. It served as our departmental mantra, and its definition is unambiguous: social mobility is the method by which we achieve fair chances – without removing opportunity away from those who already have it, but rather by providing opportunities to those that are without.

Essential Principle

An additional vital ministry expression we used, “ability is distributed uniformly around the UK, but opportunity is not”, again was a deliberate expression, embodying the two halves of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, ability distributed uniformly but not developed consistently through our education system. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by businesses or our economic system. As a result, education and business were key to achieving stronger social mobility. This represented an agenda about the social fabric of our country – fostering individual capabilities and providing access to opportunities.

The Actual Outcome

What did levelling up evolve into under the Tory administration? Regional development money managed by the DLUHC. Street beautification and redeveloped traffic systems. A government strategy was released a significant period after the Prime Minister took office, which saw ongoing initiatives repackaged under the new levelling up banner.

Consequently, a broader social mobility agenda went undeveloped, as well as all the change that it may have generated – in capital, enterprise, fiscal strategy, revenue and in local regeneration. Moreover, in schooling, including a higher education sector that has become a target for leaders across parties – although it remains the primary vehicle of upward movement for young working-class people, personally, this country has had in recent decades. Perhaps the only engine of social mobility, functioning widely.

The Role of Ambition

Aspiration is crucial for our country to prosper. To foster ambition, there needs to be a believable feeling that dedication and outcome are linked; that if people aim high, they can achieve. For political leadership, being able to instil a sense of optimism about the years ahead is critical. Research by the Institute for Policy Research at the university and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to boosting academic achievement – led to students in those communities being up to a significant margin more positive about their future than those in comparable communities without these programmes in place. The data shows: just making an genuine beginning on fair opportunity strategies can rapidly and effectively change how people view their prospects.

Squandered Chances

Ignoring this evidence, and in the middle of its new leader election, in September 2022, the Tory administration closed opportunity areas down. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a organization that took that action? The opportunity areas policy is one example of what had the potential to be a transformative administration strategy on levelling up, but that chance was completely wasted. Methods such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. In contrast, as the Tories found out, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the most expensive error any government can make. The public held accountable the administration for its failure but, primarily, for its broken promises on equal opportunity.

Today’s Political Reality

Now the mandate on equal opportunity and equality of opportunity has passed to a opposition party. The old slogan has been discarded. Labour has its own public messaging of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The party that is increasingly displacing the struggling incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own language – “reindustrialisation”. The terminology to talk about additional chances in regions like the one I grew up in, in South Yorkshire. It claims that an historical manufacturing base can be reborn into an industrial future.

To the electorate, it must appear as a Groundhog Day-style loop. Similar challenge, new terminology. But – as yet – no results.

Lessons for the Future

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the identical outcome, both these parties should take lessons from the previous government’s errors on social mobility; that fair chance language is simple terminology, but effective implementation of fairer outcomes is significantly more difficult. Our nation’s persistently low social mobility remains the primary challenge for our country, with the next generation unable to get a decent career start, those working hard in occupations with minimal progress after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any actual expectation their next generation will be able to do improve in life than they have.

Politicians can discuss fairer opportunities as much as they want. But where is the political group that has the complete plan on life chances? I observe no such party. Whoever gets there first, wins. Not just for their party, but, more importantly, for a whole country that has urgently needs fair chances so badly.