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Prime Minister Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to declare the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. Yet, the prime minister did not devote extensive time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he spent it trying to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, informing journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his premiership has evolved into more generally. On the one hand, he wants his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot transform the culture of politics single-handedly, but he can take action about his own role in it. The simple truth is that he could run the centre of government much more effectively than he does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the country was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

A number of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to up his game, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of cabinet secretary to a senior official.
• He appointed Sue Gray his chief of staff, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little talking to parliamentarians 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 express surprise when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The most significant problems, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on overhauling the centre of government. His failure to grip these issues in the summer or afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like restructuring the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and dividing the positions of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

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

This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He stands as the casualty of past failures along with the architect of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the core and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir personally.