Five years on from the promise of levelling up, how do we smash Britain’s talent wall?

Next month marks five years since Boris Johnson won his landslide election victory in Britain. Whilst getting Brexit done was a key reason why voters propelled him to victory, so was the hope that Britain could be better. Boris promised to ‘level-up’ communities across the country, and it was in part for that reason that so many lifelong Labour supporters switched their votes for the very first time.  

Fast forward almost five years and a lot has happened. Boris went, and his Conservative successors did too. Labour now has a majority in Parliament more than twice as large as the Conservatives achieved in 2019, and the Department for Levelling Up has been scrapped – but aim has been replaced with the new government’s Breaking Down Barriers agenda.  

Last week, leading Purpose Coalition Member the Co-op Group published their new report – The Opportunity Effect. Its results were perhaps not surprising, but they remain shocking.  

The headline stat? 70% of people from a lower-socio economic background may be missing out on career or educational opportunities because of their background. That’s 7.2m people. If you want to put that in context, that is roughly the same number of people as live in Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leicester, Nottingham, Newcastle and Southampton – combined. The report also found that over a quarter downplay their background in a job interview or the workplace, and 16–34-year-olds are the hardest hit.  

So how do you fix it?  

You would struggle to find many organisations in Britain that don’t see the need to improve social mobility and ensure opportunity for all – but actions matter, and what gets measured gets done.  

First, employers should measure their socio-economic diversity and identify their own opportunities and pay gaps resulting from that data. It gives an opportunity for reflection, and to ‘get ahead of the game’ by taking urgent action. It is something central to the new Labour government’s plans too - in 2023, the now Employment Minister Alison McGovern set out in her speech to Purpose Coalition members how the Labour government will ‘invoke the socio-economic' element of the Equality Act. 

Secondly, it means engaging with schools and colleges. Particularly in those parts of the country furthest away from opportunities, many young people are simply not aware of the opportunities on offer in the world of work. We cannot risk a poverty of ambition, and young people need to know what is out there.  

Finally – progression. The chance to keep developing and progressing in your career is vital to social mobility. Not only for increased earnings but about getting on and feeling  challenged beyond education. Businesses that work out how to provide those opportunities to keep growing and moving forward will do better.  

Prior to the General Election, Keir Starmer set out his party’s five Missions for government. Those Missions were central to the party’s manifesto, and showing real progress on them will be vital for Starmer’s re-election prospects in 2028 or 2029.  

For the Missions to ‘Break down the barriers to opportunity’ and ‘Achieve the highest growth in the G7’ - tackling the opportunity gap and boosting social mobility will be vital to achieving them.  

Not every organisation can fix every challenge, but everyone needs to play their part.