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Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales on Thursday to reveal the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a significant policy event with both local and national implications. Yet, the PM did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time attempting to put an end to the Labour leadership briefing row, informing reporters that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has now become overall. On the one hand, he desires his administration to be doing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to accomplish this due to the way he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now practices politics and government.

Sir Keir is unable to change the culture of politics on his own, but he is able to do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he does. Should he achieve this, he could discover 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 Downing Street relate to individuals. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his chief of staff, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

All premiers spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to MPs and hearing the citizens. Premiers also allocate 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 politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, 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 afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like reorganizing the functions of the central government office and No 10, and separating the positions of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of prime ministers far outdistances 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 author of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Sadly, the biggest loser from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.