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Sir Keir Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to reveal the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not devote extensive time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time attempting to put an end to the Labour leadership briefing row, telling journalists that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary's goals in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a small-scale example of what his premiership has evolved into overall. On the one hand, he wants his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, significant actions. Conversely, he is unable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, partly, the country more generally – now conducts politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the culture of politics single-handedly, but he can do something about his own role in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the government's core much more effectively than he does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more effectively.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

Some of the issues in Number 10 relate to individuals. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to up his game, 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 a political strategist.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• 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

All premiers spend too much time abroad 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 doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who tend to be party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The most significant problems, though, are structural. It would be good to think that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 study on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to address these matters in the summer or since suggests he did not. The often abject experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals 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 political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings 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 let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.