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Prime Minister Starmer visited Wales' northern region this past Thursday to announce the construction of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event with both local and national implications. Yet, the prime minister did not devote extensive time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he spent it attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. On the one hand, he wants 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, to an extent, the nation more generally – now conducts politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot change the political culture on his own, but he is able to do something about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could run the government's core much more effectively than he currently does. Should he achieve this, he could discover 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 Downing Street

A number of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He dithered about giving the crucial role of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald.
• He appointed a former official his top aide, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He recruited Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much 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 spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. Yet leaders 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 most significant problems, however, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's spring 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues last July or afterward implies he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and dividing the positions of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the victim of past failures as well as the author of current mistakes. 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.