While the struggling Tories gathers in Manchester for its yearly gathering, it has plenty to consider regarding its future direction. Doubt remains if a clear direction exists at all. We are in difficult days for a political party that now has very little, if anything, fresh or distinctive to say to voters.
It could have been markedly improved if tangible progress had been made on an priority that is important for people across the country: Levelling up. Yet the former leadership did not possess the first clue on how to transform his zeitgeisty rhetoric on social mobility into policy reality. During the initial period after the general election, it argued over what the phrase even meant.
It seemed strange to me, because I had previously explained to the Prime Minister what social mobility entailed when we originally talked about it during the contest for party leader. This terminology was a concept I originated and used at the education ministry to talk about social mobility. It was our guiding principle, and its meaning is unambiguous: social mobility is the method by which we attain equality of opportunity – not by taking chances away from those who are already advantaged, but rather by extending opportunities to those that are without.
An additional vital education department term we used, “potential is equally shared around the UK, but opportunity is not”, served as a purposeful phrase, reflecting the dual components of a equal opportunity plan. First, talent spread evenly but not nurtured uniformly through our schools and colleges. Additionally, opportunities not spread evenly by the private sector or our market. Therefore, education and business were crucial to achieving better life chances. This represented an priority about the social fabric of our country – investing in people’s potential and linking them with prospects.
How did levelling up evolve into under Johnson’s Conservatives? A towns fund overseen from the the relevant ministry. Hanging baskets and reconfigured roundabouts and roads. A government strategy was launched nearly three years after the leadership change, which saw current strategies repackaged under the new levelling up banner.
Therefore, a broader social mobility agenda went undeveloped, as well as all the improvement that it may have generated – in capital, business, economic policy, taxation and in place-making. Moreover, in education, including a university system that has become a target for leaders across parties – although it remains the most powerful engine of upward movement for young working-class people, including myself, this country has had over the past 30 years. Possibly the only engine of fair chances, operating at scale.
Aspiration is crucial for our country to prosper. For people to have aspiration, there needs to be a credible sense that hard work and results are related; that if people aspire, they can achieve. For political leadership, being able to create a feeling of hope about the future is crucial. Analysis by the academic institution at the university and others, published last month, showed that the DfE’s 12 “opportunity areas” I introduced as education secretary – place-based approaches to improving education outcomes – led to young people in those neighborhoods being up to a significant margin more optimistic about their future than those in comparable communities without these initiatives in place. The research confirms: just making an genuine beginning on equal chance initiatives can rapidly and effectively change how people perceive their destiny.
Unaware of these findings, and in the midst of its post-Johnson leadership contest, in that period, the ruling party closed opportunity areas down. What reason would someone in those regions vote for a political group that did that? This specific initiative is a clear case of what could have been a game-changing Conservative government agenda on social mobility, but that chance was completely wasted. Strategies such as this can inspire hope and aspiration. On the other hand, as the Conservatives found out, reneging on commitments of fair chances is the costliest mistake any leadership can make. The public held accountable the administration for its ineffectiveness but, perhaps most of all, for its unfulfilled commitments on social mobility.
Currently the mandate on equal opportunity and equality of opportunity has passed to a opposition party. The previous terminology has been discarded. The current administration has its own public messaging of “removing obstacles to success”. The organization that is gradually replacing the failing Tories, the alternative party, also has its own message – “industrial revival”. This expression to talk about fresh prospects in communities like the one I grew up in, in the region. It suggests that an former economic strength can reincarnate into an revitalized economy.
For voters, it must feel like a repetitive cycle. Same issue, alternative phrasing. Yet, currently, little improvement.
Whether the government and opposition want to escape the same fate, the respective organizations should learn from the Tories’ mistakes on social mobility; that fair chance language is simple terminology, but actual achievement of fairer outcomes is much harder. Our nation’s chronically poor life chances remains the primary challenge for our country, with youth unable to get a decent career start, those putting in effort in employment with little to show after the rent has been paid, and individuals nationwide without any real hope their children will be able to do improve in life than they have.
Politicians can talk about improved access as much as they want. However, which party has the political group that has the complete plan on life chances? None appear to exist. Whoever gets there first, succeeds. Not only for their party, but, more importantly, for a whole country that has urgently needs equality of opportunity so desperately.
Elara Vance is a dedicated MapleStory enthusiast and gaming writer, known for creating in-depth guides and staying updated on game mechanics.
