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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to announce the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the PM did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating 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, informing journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his premiership has now become overall. Firstly, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this due to the way he – and, to an extent, the nation as a whole – now practices politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot transform the culture of politics on his own, but he is able to take action about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the government's core much more effectively than he currently does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the country was in less despair about his administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

A number of the issues in Number 10 are about personnel. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make sound staffing decisions, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must 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 chief of staff, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Core of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and insufficient time talking to parliamentarians and hearing the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who are often party loyalists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the focus, as the chief of staff now has.

The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be good to think that Sir Keir read the a think tank's spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to address these matters in the summer or afterward suggests he did not. The often abject experience of Labour’s time in office suggests recommendations like restructuring the roles of the Cabinet Office and No 10, and dividing the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of previous shortcomings along with the author of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.