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Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to declare the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he spent it attempting to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, telling journalists that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary's goals in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into overall. On the one hand, he desires his government to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this because of the way he – and, to an extent, the nation more generally – now practices political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir cannot transform the culture of politics single-handedly, but he is able to take action about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could run the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he might find that the nation was in less despair about his government than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

A number of the issues in Number 10 are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He dithered 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 a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

All premiers spend too much time overseas and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who tend to be party loyalists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The most significant problems, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's March 2024 study on overhauling the centre of government. His inability to address these matters last July or since implies he did not. The often abject performance of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like restructuring the functions of the central government office and No 10, and dividing the positions of top official and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the support available to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He stands as the casualty of past failures along with the architect of current mistakes. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Unfortunately, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir himself.