I advocated for levelling up as the key to Tory electoral victory – but Boris Johnson neglected the agenda. Observe the consequences.

While the existentially challenged Conservative party meets in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its next steps. Doubt remains if a road forward is available. We are in challenging circumstances for a political party that now has very little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to voters.

An Alternate Reality

Things could have turned out vastly better if tangible progress had been made on an policy focus that resonates with people across the country: Levelling up. But the previous administration hadn’t got the first clue on how to convert the popular slogan on levelling up into actual implementation. Over twenty-four months after the 2019 election, it argued over what the concept actually signified.

It seemed strange to me, because I had clearly defined for Johnson what social mobility signified when we initially discussed about it during his leadership campaign. This terminology was language I created and used at the DfE to talk about equal opportunity. It was our guiding principle, and its purpose is clear: social mobility is the method by which we realize equality of opportunity – not by taking opportunity away from those who already have it, but rather by expanding opportunities to those that lack them.

Fundamental Idea

The other key ministry expression we used, “potential is equally shared across our country, yet chances are not”, again was a intentional wording, embodying the two parts of a equal opportunity plan. To begin with, potential shared equally but not developed consistently through our learning institutions. Additionally, access not provided uniformly by employers or our market. Therefore, education and business were crucial to achieving improved equality of opportunity. This was an agenda about the societal structure of our country – fostering people’s potential and providing access to opportunities.

The Reality of Implementation

What did levelling up evolve into under the Tory administration? A towns fund administered out of the the relevant ministry. Decorative floral displays and rearranged intersections. A white paper was released almost thirty-six months after the leadership change, which saw ongoing initiatives relabelled under the new levelling up banner.

Consequently, a broader social mobility agenda went unpursued, as well as all the improvement that it may have generated – in investment, commerce, financial planning, revenue and in place-making. Additionally, in education, including a higher education sector that has become a punchbag for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the primary vehicle of life improvement for individuals from less privileged homes, like me, this country has had throughout modern times. Perhaps the sole mechanism of social mobility, operating at scale.

The Role of Ambition

Hope is essential for our country to succeed. For hope to exist, there needs to be a realistic expectation that effort and reward are related; that if people aspire, they can achieve. For all administrations, being able to instil a outlook of positivity about the tomorrow is crucial. Analysis by the academic institution at the academic establishment and others, recently released, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I introduced as education secretary – community-focused methods to enhancing learning results – led to youth in those communities being up to a significant margin more positive about their prospects than those in equivalent locations without these schemes in place. The research confirms: just making an authentic start on equal chance initiatives can swiftly and beneficially change how people perceive their future.

Squandered Chances

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its successor selection process, in autumn 2022, the Conservative government terminated the programmes. Why should any person in those areas vote for a party that did that? The targeted programme is a clear case of what could have been a revolutionary administration strategy on levelling up, but that chance was completely wasted. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. In contrast, as the Conservatives discovered, breaking the promise of fair chances is the biggest blunder any political party can make. The public held accountable the administration for its failure but, above all, for its failed pledges on equal opportunity.

Today’s Political Reality

Now the responsibility on equal opportunity and equal chances has passed to a Labour government. The previous terminology has been cast off. Labour has its own policy language of “removing obstacles to success”. The political group that is increasingly displacing the hapless incumbents, Reform UK, also has its own language – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about new opportunities in regions like the one I come from, in South Yorkshire. It suggests that an industrial past can revive into an industrial future.

For voters, it must feel like a Groundhog Day-style loop. Identical problem, different language. But – as yet – no results.

What Must Change

Should the current and alternative parties want to escape the identical outcome, both these parties should understand the previous government’s errors on social mobility; that equal opportunity talk is easy to say, but successful delivery of more equal results is significantly more difficult. Our nation’s endemically weak equal opportunity remains the key issue for our country, with the next generation unable to get a good job beginning, those putting in effort in occupations with little to show after the rent has been paid, and citizens throughout the UK without any actual expectation their children will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Politicians can talk about equal chances repeatedly. However, which party has the party that has the complete plan on social mobility? None appear to exist. Whichever party succeeds initially, wins. Not just for themselves, but, crucially, for a whole country that has urgently needs equal access so badly.