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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to announce the construction of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote extensive time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time trying to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, informing journalists that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his premiership has now become overall. On the one hand, he wants his government to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is unable to accomplish this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the nation as a whole – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir is unable to change the political culture on his own, but he is able to do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he currently does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the country was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in No 10

Some of the issues in Downing Street are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He hesitated about giving the key job of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his chief of staff, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors 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 devote excessive time overseas and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the citizens. Prime ministers 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 are often party loyalists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s March 2024 report on reforming the centre of government. His inability to grip these issues last July 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 positions of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings along with the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir himself.