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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region on Thursday to announce the development of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he spent it trying to put an end to 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 microcosm 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. Conversely, he is unable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the nation as a whole – now practices political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir cannot transform the culture of politics on his own, but he is able to take action about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the government's core much more effectively than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less dismay about his government than it is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

A number of the problems in Number 10 are about individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to up his game, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He hesitated about giving the crucial role of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He appointed Sue Gray his chief of staff, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little talking to parliamentarians and hearing the public. Premiers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff now has.

The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be beneficial to think that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to address these matters last July or afterward implies he did not. The often abject experience of Labour’s time in office suggests recommendations like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of cabinet secretary and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He stands as the victim of past failures as well as the author of current mistakes. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.