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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region on Thursday to declare the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the PM did not devote much time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he spent it attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. On the one hand, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is unable to accomplish this because of the way he – and, to an extent, the country more generally – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot transform the political culture on his own, but he is able to take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core far better than he does. Should he achieve this, he might find that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Staffing Issues in No 10

Some of the issues in Number 10 are about individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Perhaps he is too busy. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. But he needs to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant 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 communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

Every prime minister devote excessive time overseas and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and insufficient time conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the citizens. Premiers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the story, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The most significant problems, though, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on overhauling the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues last July or since implies he did not. The often abject performance of Labour’s time in office indicates IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and dividing the jobs of cabinet secretary and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of PMs far outdistances the assistance provided to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the victim of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the core and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.