🔗 Share this article I championed equal opportunity as the essential to Conservative electoral victory – but the former Prime Minister failed to deliver. Now look at us. While the struggling Conservative party gathers in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its path forward. Doubt remains if a road forward is available. We are in challenging circumstances for a political party that now has very little, if anything, new or unique to say to the electorate. What Could Have Been The situation might have been markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an agenda that resonates with people across the country: Equal opportunity. But Boris Johnson’s government lacked the slightest idea on how to convert the popular slogan on levelling up into concrete action. During the initial period after the 2019 election, it discussed what the concept truly represented. I was perplexed, because I’d already told Johnson what levelling up signified when we originally talked about it during his leadership campaign. The phrase was a term I developed and used at the education ministry to talk about equal opportunity. This became our guiding principle, and its purpose is clear: social mobility is the method by which we realize equality of opportunity – not by taking chances away from those who possess it, but rather by providing opportunities to those that don’t. The Core Concept An additional vital ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, but opportunity is not”, served as a purposeful phrase, representing the dual components of a equal opportunity plan. To begin with, potential shared equally but not developed consistently through our learning institutions. Furthermore, chances not distributed fairly by employers or our economy. As a result, education and business were crucial to achieving better life chances. This was an mission about the community framework of our country – investing in human talent and linking them with prospects. The Actual Outcome How did levelling up turn into under the Tory administration? A towns fund managed by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Street beautification and reconfigured roundabouts and roads. An official policy document was published almost thirty-six months after the Prime Minister took office, which saw existing policy approaches relabelled under the recently branded agenda. Consequently, a comprehensive equal opportunity plan went undeveloped, as well as all the change that it could have inspired – in capital, commerce, financial planning, tax and in community development. Additionally, in schooling, including a tertiary education that has become a scapegoat for leaders across parties – even though it remains the most powerful engine of social mobility for youth from modest backgrounds, including myself, this country has had in recent decades. Possibly the primary source of equal opportunity, working extensively. Why Hope Matters Hope is crucial for our country to prosper. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a believable feeling that dedication and outcome are related; that if people dream big, they can achieve. For any government, being able to instil a outlook of positivity about the future is important. Analysis by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, newly available, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to improving education outcomes – led to students in those communities being up to a significant margin more optimistic about their life ahead than those in equivalent locations without these programmes in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on pro-social mobility policy can rapidly and effectively change how people feel about their future. Missed Opportunities Ignoring this evidence, and in the throes of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in that period, the Tory administration ended the initiatives. Why would anyone in those areas vote for a political group that did that? The targeted programme is a clear case of what had the potential to be a revolutionary Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that possibility was completely wasted. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. Conversely, as the Tories learned, failing to deliver of fair chances is the costliest mistake any political party can make. The electorate penalized the administration for its ineffectiveness but, primarily, for its unfulfilled commitments on equal opportunity. The Current Landscape Currently the baton on life chances and fair access has been taken up by a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been abandoned. The new government has its own public messaging of “breaking down the barriers to opportunity”. The political group that is gradually replacing the failing incumbents, the alternative party, also has its own terminology – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about additional chances in regions like the one I come from, in the region. It claims that an former economic strength can reincarnate into an modern manufacturing sector. For voters, it must feel like a repetitive cycle. Identical problem, alternative phrasing. However, so far, no progress. Lessons for the Future If Labour and Reform UK want to avoid the same fate, both these parties should take lessons from the Conservatives’ failure on social mobility; that social mobility rhetoric is easy to say, but successful delivery of fairer outcomes is far more challenging. Our nation’s persistently low equal opportunity remains the primary challenge for our country, with the next generation unable to get a decent career start, those working hard in occupations with few results after the rent has been paid, and individuals nationwide without any genuine belief their next generation will be able to do any better in life than they have. Politicians can discuss improved access as much as they want. However, which party has the party that has the comprehensive policy agenda on social mobility? None appear to exist. The first to achieve this, wins. Not only for themselves, but, more importantly, for a whole country that has never needed equal access so badly.