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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region this past Thursday to reveal the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not dedicate much time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that No 10 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 evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his government to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this because of the way he – and, to an extent, the country more generally – now practices politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot transform the political culture on his own, but he can do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core far better than he does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Staffing Issues in No 10

Some of the issues in Downing Street relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He hesitated about giving the key job of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He made Sue Gray his chief of staff, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to parliamentarians and listening to the citizens. Prime ministers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on overhauling the centre of government. His inability to grip these issues in the summer or since suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like restructuring the functions of the central government office and No 10, and separating the positions of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of PMs far outdistances the assistance provided to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the victim of past failures along with the architect of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Sadly, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.