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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to declare the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this due to the manner he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the culture of politics single-handedly, but he can do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core far better than he currently does. If he did this, he might find that the nation was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

Some of the issues in Number 10 are about individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are hard to know accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. But he needs to up his game, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He made a former official his top aide, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of Government

All premiers spend too much time abroad and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the public. Prime ministers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party loyalists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir read the a think tank's March 2024 report on reforming the centre of government. His failure to address these matters last July or since suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration indicates recommendations like restructuring the functions of the central government office and No 10, and dividing the jobs of top official and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the casualty of past failures along with the architect of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Sadly, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir personally.