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Prime Minister Starmer visited Wales' northern region on Thursday to declare the building of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a significant policy event with implications at local and countrywide levels. Yet, the prime minister did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he spent it trying to put an end to the Labour leadership briefing row, telling reporters that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into overall. On the one hand, he wants his government to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this due to the way he – and, partly, the country as a whole – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir is unable to change the political culture on his own, but he can do something about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the government's core much more effectively than he currently does. If he did this, he might find that the nation was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Staffing Issues in No 10

A number of the issues in Downing Street are about individuals. 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. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He dithered about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made a former official his chief of staff, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• 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 Government

Every prime minister devote excessive time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little conversing with parliamentarians and listening to the public. Premiers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who tend to be party loyalists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney now has.

The most significant problems, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to think that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s March 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His inability to address these matters last July or since suggests he did not. The often abject experience of the Labour administration suggests IfG proposals like reorganizing the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of PMs greatly exceeds the support available to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or ignored.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the victim of previous shortcomings along with the architect of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Sadly, the biggest loser from this failure is Sir Keir personally.