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Prime Minister Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to declare the development of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the prime minister did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he spent it attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his government to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the way he – and, partly, the country as a whole – now practices political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister cannot change the culture of politics on his own, but he can do something about his own role in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core much more effectively than he does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his government than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

Some of the problems in Downing Street are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain 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 key job of cabinet secretary to a senior official.
• He made Sue Gray his top aide, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

All premiers devote excessive time abroad and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time talking to parliamentarians and hearing the public. Premiers also spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party loyalists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The most significant problems, however, are systemic. It would be beneficial to think that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s March 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues last July or afterward implies he did not. The often abject performance of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like restructuring the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are currently critical.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings as well as the author of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.