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Prime Minister 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 much time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. 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 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 premiership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this due to the way he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now conducts politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the political culture single-handedly, but he can take action about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could run the centre of government far better than he does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

Some of the issues in Downing Street are about personnel. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are hard to know well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He appointed a former official his chief of staff, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time talking to MPs and hearing the public. Premiers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party activists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on reforming the centre of government. His inability to address these matters last July or since suggests he did not. The often abject performance of Labour’s time in office indicates IfG proposals like reorganizing the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of PMs far outdistances the support available to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the victim of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Sadly, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir personally.