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Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales on Thursday to reveal the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a significant policy event with both local and national implications. Yet, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he spent it attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters 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 prime ministership has now become more generally. On the one hand, he desires his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is unable to accomplish 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 on his own, but he can do something about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could run the government's core much more effectively than he does. If he did this, he might find that the country was in less despair about his government than it is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Personnel Problems in Downing Street

Some of the problems in Number 10 are about individuals. The personal dynamics of any No 10 regime are hard to know accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about giving the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his top aide, then replaced her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Core of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time talking to MPs and listening to the public. Prime ministers also allocate 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 good to believe that Sir Keir read the a think tank's March 2024 study on overhauling the centre of government. His inability to grip these issues in the summer or afterward suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of the Labour administration suggests recommendations like restructuring the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of top official and head of the civil service, are currently critical.

The political pre-eminence of PMs far outdistances the assistance provided to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the casualty of previous shortcomings as well as the architect of current mistakes. But those who hoped 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 himself.