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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region on Thursday to reveal the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not devote extensive time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. 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 undermined the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. Firstly, he desires his government to be doing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the manner he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now practices politics and government.

Sir Keir is unable to change the culture of politics on his own, but he is able to do something about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could run the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

A number of the problems in Downing Street are about personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He dithered about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made a former official his top aide, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of the Administration

Every prime minister 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 allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the a think tank's March 2024 study on overhauling the centre of government. His failure to grip these issues last July or afterward suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and dividing the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the victim of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.