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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to announce the development of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the PM did not devote extensive time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time trying to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing reporters that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary's goals earlier this week.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his government to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this because of the manner he – and, to an extent, the nation more generally – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot transform the culture of politics single-handedly, but he is able to take action about his own role 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 administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Personnel Problems in No 10

Some of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. 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 Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of the Administration

Every prime minister devote excessive time overseas and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the public. Premiers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who tend to be party loyalists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the story, as the chief of staff now has.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s March 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues 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 Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of prime ministers far outdistances the support available to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of previous shortcomings along with the author of current mistakes. 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 biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir himself.