As the original author advocated for equal opportunity as the key to Conservative electoral victory – but Boris Johnson failed to deliver. Observe the consequences.

As the beleaguered Conservative party gathers in Manchester for its annual party conference, it has much to ponder regarding its future direction. Doubt remains if a clear direction remains open. We are in tough times for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to the public.

What Could Have Been

Things could have turned out so different if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that resonates with people throughout the UK: Levelling up. However Boris Johnson’s government hadn’t got the slightest idea on how to transform the trendy talk on levelling up into policy reality. For the two years after the 2019 election, it debated what the phrase even meant.

I was perplexed, because I had previously explained to the Prime Minister what social mobility signified when we originally talked about it during his leadership campaign. The phrase was a concept I originated and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. It was our guiding principle, and its purpose is clear: social mobility is the means by which we achieve equal access – not by taking prospects away from those who already have it, but rather by extending options to those that are without.

Essential Principle

The other key education department term we used, “potential is equally shared throughout the nation, but opportunity is not”, represented another a purposeful phrase, embodying the dual components of a equal opportunity plan. To begin with, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Second, opportunities not spread evenly by the private sector or our market. Thus, schools and companies were key to achieving better life chances. This was an mission about the community framework of our country – fostering human talent and linking them with opportunities.

What Levelling Up Became

How did levelling up turn into under the Tory administration? Local investment schemes managed by the DLUHC. Hanging baskets and reconfigured roundabouts and roads. An official policy document was launched a significant period after the Prime Minister took office, which saw current strategies rebadged under the fresh social mobility slogan.

Therefore, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went ignored, as well as all the reform that it might have driven – in funding, commerce, financial planning, revenue and in community development. Moreover, in education, including a university system that has become a target for elected officials – even though it remains the most powerful engine of social mobility for individuals from less privileged homes, personally, this country has had over the past 30 years. Perhaps the only engine of social mobility, operating at scale.

Why Hope Matters

Hope is essential for our country to thrive. To foster ambition, there needs to be a credible sense that effort and reward are related; that if people aim high, they can succeed. For political leadership, being able to instil a feeling of hope about the tomorrow is important. Analysis by the research body at Bath University and others, published last month, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to enhancing learning results – led to young people in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more optimistic about their prospects than those in equivalent locations without these schemes in place. The research confirms: just making an authentic start on fair opportunity strategies can quickly and positively change how people view their future.

Squandered Chances

Oblivious to this, and in the midst of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in that period, the Conservative government ended the initiatives. Why should any person in those communities vote for a political group that did that? This specific initiative is one example of what might have become a transformative Conservative government agenda 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 discovered, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the biggest blunder any government can make. The public held accountable the government for its failure but, above all, for its failed pledges on social mobility.

Today’s Political Reality

Now the responsibility on life chances and fair access has passed to a Labour government. The old slogan has been discarded. The new government has its own political rhetoric of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The organization that is steadily supplanting the failing Conservative party, the alternative party, also has its own message – “reindustrialisation”. The terminology to talk about additional chances in communities like the one I was raised in, in the region. It promises that an former economic strength can be reborn into an revitalized economy.

To the electorate, it must appear as a déjà vu experience. Identical problem, new terminology. But – as yet – no results.

The Way Forward

Whether the government and opposition want to avoid the identical outcome, each group should learn from the previous government’s errors on levelling up; that fair chance language is simple terminology, but successful delivery of more equal results is significantly more difficult. Our nation’s persistently low equal opportunity remains the central problem for our country, with the next generation unable to get a proper professional launch, those laboring in full-time jobs with few results after the living expenses are met, and people across the country without any genuine belief their children will be able to do any better in life than they have.

Politicians can discuss equal chances however much they like. Yet where is the political group that has the complete plan on equal opportunity? I see none. Whoever gets there first, succeeds. Not just for their organization, but, more importantly, for a complete society that has desperately requires fair chances so urgently.