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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region this past Thursday to reveal the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. Yet, the PM did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he used the time trying to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he wants his administration to be doing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is unable to accomplish this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the country more generally – now practices political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir is unable to transform the political culture single-handedly, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could run the government's core far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation 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 are about individuals. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. 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. But he needs to improve his performance, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He dithered about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He appointed Sue Gray his top aide, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration

Every prime minister devote excessive time abroad and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to parliamentarians and hearing the public. Premiers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party loyalists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the story, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 study on overhauling the centre of government. His inability to grip these issues last July or afterward implies he did not. The often abject experience of Labour’s time in office indicates IfG proposals like restructuring the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

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

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of past failures along with the author of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Sadly, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.