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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to announce the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the PM did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time trying to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, informing reporters that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary's goals in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has now become overall. Firstly, he desires his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is unable to achieve this because of the manner he – and, partly, the country as a whole – now practices politics and government.

Sir Keir cannot transform the culture of politics single-handedly, but he is able to do something about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he might find that the country was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Staffing Issues in No 10

Some of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He dithered about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made a former official his top aide, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little conversing with MPs and hearing the citizens. Premiers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues in the summer or afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal experience of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like reorganizing the functions of the central government office and No 10, and separating the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of past failures along with the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.