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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region on Thursday to announce the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he spent it 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 ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a small-scale example of what his premiership has evolved into more generally. On the one hand, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is incapable to accomplish this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the country more generally – now practices political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister cannot transform the culture of politics on his own, but he is able to take action 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 country was in less despair about his administration than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Staffing Issues in No 10

A number of the issues in Downing Street are about individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are hard to know well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. But he needs to up his game, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He dithered about giving the key job of cabinet secretary to a senior official.
• He made Sue Gray his chief of staff, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His media advisors have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Systemic Issues at the Core of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little conversing with MPs and listening to the public. Premiers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be good to think that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on reforming the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues last July or afterward suggests he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and dividing the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of PMs far outdistances the assistance provided to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is 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. Sadly, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir personally.