I advocated for equal opportunity as the key to Conservative success – but Boris Johnson didn’t do it. Observe the consequences.

While the existentially challenged Tories convenes in its conference city for its annual party conference, it has a lot to reflect on regarding its future direction. Doubt remains if a clear direction remains open. We are in tough times for a governing group that now has little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to the electorate.

An Alternate Reality

Things could have turned out so different if real advances had been made on an agenda that matters to people throughout the UK: Equal opportunity. Yet the former leadership did not possess the basic understanding on how to turn his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into actual implementation. During the initial period after the 2019 election, it argued over what the phrase even meant.

It seemed strange to me, because I had previously explained to Johnson what social mobility entailed when we originally talked about it during his leadership campaign. This terminology was a term I developed and used at the education ministry to talk about equal opportunity. It served as our guiding principle, and its purpose is unambiguous: levelling up is the approach by which we attain equality of opportunity – not by taking opportunity away from those who already have it, but rather by providing chances to those that lack them.

Fundamental Idea

The other key ministry expression we used, “talent is spread evenly across our country, however access isn’t”, represented another a intentional wording, reflecting the dual components of a equal opportunity plan. Initially, potential shared equally but not nurtured uniformly through our learning institutions. Furthermore, opportunities not spread evenly by the private sector or our economy. Thus, schools and companies were key to achieving better life chances. This was an mission about the social fabric of our country – supporting human talent and providing access to opportunities.

The Reality of Implementation

What did the social mobility agenda turn into under Johnson’s Conservatives? Regional development money overseen from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Decorative floral displays and reconfigured roundabouts and roads. A white paper was launched a significant period after the Prime Minister took office, which saw existing policy approaches relabelled under the recently branded agenda.

Therefore, a broader social mobility agenda went ignored, as well as all the reform that it may have generated – in funding, business, financial planning, tax and in community development. Moreover, in learning, including a university system that has become a target for politicians of all stripes – even though it remains the most powerful engine of social mobility for young working-class people, including myself, this country has had over the past 30 years. Maybe the primary source of social mobility, working extensively.

Why Hope Matters

Aspiration is essential for our country to prosper. For hope to exist, there needs to be a realistic expectation that dedication and outcome are linked; that if people aspire, they can attain. For political leadership, being able to instil a outlook of positivity about the tomorrow is crucial. Studies by the Institute for Policy Research at the academic establishment and others, recently released, showed that the ministry’s focus zones I established during my tenure – place-based approaches to enhancing learning results – led to students in those areas being up to 18 percentage points more optimistic about their prospects than those in comparable communities without these programmes in place. The research confirms: just making an sincere effort on equal chance initiatives can rapidly and effectively change how people perceive their future.

Missed Opportunities

Ignoring this evidence, and in the midst of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in September 2022, the Tory administration terminated the programmes. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a party that made that decision? The opportunity areas policy is a clear case of what might have become a revolutionary administration strategy on levelling up, but that possibility was hopelessly squandered. Strategies such as this can create belief and drive. On the other hand, as the ruling party learned, failing to deliver of fair chances is the most expensive error any government can make. Voters held accountable the leadership for its ineffectiveness but, above all, for its failed pledges on equal opportunity.

Today’s Political Reality

Currently the baton on social mobility and fair access has been taken up by a opposition party. The levelling up rhetoric has been abandoned. The new government has its own public messaging of “eliminating hurdles to advancement”. The party that is steadily supplanting the hapless Conservative party, the challenger, also has its own language – “reindustrialisation”. This expression to talk about fresh prospects in communities like the one I come from, in the region. It promises that an historical manufacturing base can revive into an revitalized economy.

For the public, it must feel like a déjà vu experience. Similar challenge, new terminology. However, so far, no progress.

The Way Forward

Should the current and alternative parties want to prevent the same fate, both these parties should learn from the Conservatives’ failure on levelling up; that fair chance language is one thing, but effective implementation of more equal results is significantly more difficult. Our nation’s persistently low social mobility remains the primary challenge for our country, with young people unable to get a proper professional launch, those laboring in occupations with few results after the living expenses are met, and citizens throughout the UK without any actual expectation their offspring will be able to do advance in life than they have.

Elected officials can talk about equal chances as much as they want. However, which party has the organization that has the complete plan on social mobility? None appear to exist. Whichever party succeeds initially, wins. Not only for themselves, but, crucially, for a complete society that has urgently needs fair chances so badly.