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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region this past Thursday to reveal the construction of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the prime minister did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that No 10 had not undermined the health secretary's goals in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is incapable to achieve this due to the way he – and, to an extent, the country as a whole – now practices political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister is unable to transform the political culture single-handedly, but he is able to do something about his own role in it. The simple truth is that he could run the centre of government far better than he does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair about his government than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

Some 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 does not make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He dithered about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He appointed a former official his top aide, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

All premiers devote excessive time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time conversing with MPs and listening to the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the story, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, however, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on reforming the centre of government. His inability to address these matters in the summer or afterward implies he did not. The often abject experience of Labour’s time in office suggests recommendations like restructuring the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of top official and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the victim of past failures along with the author of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.