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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales on Thursday to reveal the development of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This represents a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. Yet, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to advocating solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary's goals in recent days.

Therefore, 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, significant actions. On the other hand, he is unable to accomplish this due to the way he – and, partly, the nation as a whole – now practices political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir cannot transform the political culture on his own, but he is able to take action about his personal involvement 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 might find that the country was in less despair about his administration than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Staffing Issues in No 10

Some of the issues in Number 10 relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to up his game, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He dithered about assigning the crucial role of cabinet secretary to a senior official.
• He made a former official his chief of staff, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Core of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time talking to parliamentarians and listening to the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The most significant problems, however, are structural. It would be beneficial to think that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 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 performance of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like restructuring the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and dividing the jobs of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

The political pre-eminence of PMs 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 sole responsibility. He stands as the casualty of previous shortcomings along with the architect of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the core and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.