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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales on Thursday to declare the development of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating 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 Downing Street 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 more generally. On the one hand, he desires his government to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister cannot transform the political culture single-handedly, 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 much more effectively than he does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the country was in less despair about his administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in No 10

A number of the problems in Number 10 are about individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern well from outside. 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. But he needs to up his game, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He appointed a former official his chief of staff, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration

Every prime minister devote excessive time abroad and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and insufficient time talking to MPs and hearing the public. Premiers also allocate too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who tend to be party loyalists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the story, as the chief of staff now has.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be good to think that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s March 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His inability to address these matters in the summer or since implies he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like restructuring the functions of the central government office and No 10, and dividing the jobs of top official and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the casualty of previous shortcomings along with the architect of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.