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Prime Minister Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to announce the construction of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. Yet, the prime minister did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he spent it attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing reporters that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary's goals in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become overall. On the one hand, he desires his government to be doing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. On the other hand, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the way he – and, to an extent, the nation as a whole – now conducts politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the culture of politics single-handedly, but he can take action about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the centre of government much more effectively than he does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

A number of the issues in Number 10 relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He dithered about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He made Sue Gray his top aide, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Core of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little conversing with MPs and listening to the public. Premiers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the story, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues in the summer or afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal performance of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like restructuring the functions of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of PMs far outdistances the support available to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He stands as the casualty of previous shortcomings along with the author of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.