🔗 Share this article I advocated for equal opportunity as the key to Tory success – but Boris Johnson failed to deliver. Now look at us. While the struggling Tories gathers in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has much to ponder regarding its next steps. It’s not even clear if a clear direction remains open. These are challenging circumstances for a political party that now has almost nothing, if anything, new or unique to say to the electorate. The Missed Opportunity It could have been vastly better if tangible progress had been made on an agenda that resonates with people throughout the UK: Levelling up. However Boris Johnson’s government did not possess the slightest idea on how to transform his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into policy reality. During the initial period after the 2019 election, it argued over what the concept truly represented. It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for the Prime Minister what social mobility meant when we first spoke about it during the contest for party leader. The phrase was a concept I originated and used at the education ministry to talk about life chances. It was our core mission, and its purpose is unambiguous: levelling up is the approach by which we achieve equal access – not by taking chances away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by expanding chances to those that lack them. The Core Concept The other key ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared throughout the nation, yet chances are not”, served as a deliberate expression, reflecting the dual components of a social mobility strategy. To begin with, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our education system. Additionally, opportunities not spread evenly by employers or our economic system. Therefore, education and business were key to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This was an agenda about the community framework of our country – investing in human talent and connecting them to opportunities. The Actual Outcome How did the social mobility agenda evolve into under the previous government? Local investment schemes overseen from the DLUHC. Decorative floral displays and redeveloped traffic systems. A government strategy was launched nearly three years after the Prime Minister took office, which saw current strategies relabelled under the fresh social mobility slogan. As a result, a broader social mobility agenda went undeveloped, as well as all the reform that it could have inspired – in capital, enterprise, financial planning, tax and in community development. Additionally, in schooling, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for elected officials – despite the fact that it remains the strongest driver of upward movement for individuals from less privileged homes, like me, this country has had over the past 30 years. Perhaps the primary source of fair chances, working extensively. Why Hope Matters Ambition is crucial for our country to prosper. To foster ambition, there needs to be a believable feeling that dedication and outcome are connected; that if people aim high, they can achieve. For any government, being able to instil a feeling of hope about the tomorrow is critical. Analysis by the Institute for Policy Research at the academic establishment and others, newly available, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I established during my tenure – place-based approaches to enhancing learning results – led to youth in those areas being up to 18 percentage points more positive about their life ahead than those in similar areas without these initiatives in place. The data shows: just making an authentic start on fair opportunity strategies can quickly and positively change how people view their prospects. Missed Opportunities Unaware of these findings, and in the middle of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in autumn 2022, the Conservative government terminated the programmes. What reason would someone in those communities vote for a organization that made that decision? The opportunity areas policy is a clear case of what might have become a game-changing Conservative government agenda on levelling up, but that opportunity was hopelessly squandered. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. Conversely, as the ruling party discovered, reneging on commitments of social mobility is the biggest blunder any government can make. The electorate punished the administration for its failure but, perhaps most of all, for its unfulfilled commitments on equal opportunity. Today’s Political Reality Currently the mandate on social mobility and equality of opportunity has been transferred to a new administration. The levelling up rhetoric has been abandoned. The new government has its own public messaging of “removing obstacles to success”. The organization that is steadily supplanting the failing Tories, Reform UK, also has its own message – “economic renewal”. This expression to talk about new opportunities in areas like the one I come from, in South Yorkshire. It promises that an industrial past can be reborn into an industrial future. To the electorate, it must seem like a repetitive cycle. Identical problem, alternative phrasing. Yet, currently, little improvement. What Must Change If Labour and Reform UK want to avoid the similar destiny, each group should learn from the Tories’ mistakes on levelling up; that social mobility rhetoric is simple terminology, but actual achievement of more equal results is far more challenging. Britain’s endemically weak social mobility remains the key issue for our country, with youth unable to get a proper professional launch, those putting in effort in occupations with little to show after the rent has been paid, and individuals nationwide without any actual expectation their offspring will be able to do any better in life than they have. Politicians can discuss equal chances repeatedly. But where is the political group that has the thorough strategy on equal opportunity? None appear to exist. Whichever party succeeds initially, prevails. Not just for themselves, but, significantly, for a entire nation that has urgently needs equal access so desperately.