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Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to announce the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. Yet, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, informing journalists that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary's goals in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he wants his government to be doing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this because of the manner he – and, to an extent, the nation more generally – now conducts politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the culture of politics on his own, but he can take action about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the government's core far better than he does. If he did this, he might find that the country was in less dismay about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in No 10

A number of the issues in Number 10 are about personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are difficult to discern well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir does not make sound staffing decisions, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to improve his performance, not do things slowly or incompletely.

• He hesitated about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He made a former official his chief of staff, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the Treasury as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• It is a mess.

Systemic Issues at the Core of the Administration

All premiers spend too much time overseas and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little talking to parliamentarians and listening to the public. Premiers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their political appointees, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's spring 2024 study on reforming the centre of government. His failure to grip these issues in the summer or since suggests he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration suggests recommendations like reorganizing the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and separating the jobs of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

The dominant political role of PMs greatly exceeds the support available to them. Consequently, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the casualty of past failures along with the architect of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir would take control of the core and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.