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Prime Minister Starmer visited north Wales this past Thursday to declare the construction 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 promoting solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he spent it attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that No 10 had not briefed against the health secretary's goals in recent days.

As such, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his premiership has now become more generally. On the one hand, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. Conversely, he is unable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, to an extent, the country as a whole – now conducts politics and government.

The Prime Minister cannot change the political culture single-handedly, but he is able to take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core far better than he does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Personnel Problems in No 10

A number of the problems in Downing Street are about personnel. 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 good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Possibly he lacks genuine interest. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress 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 substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Systemic Issues at the Heart of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to parliamentarians and hearing the citizens. 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 politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be good to think that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 study on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues last July or afterward implies he did not. The often abject performance of the Labour administration suggests recommendations like reorganizing the functions of the central government office and No 10, and separating the jobs of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of PMs greatly exceeds the support available to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and many tasks are poorly executed or neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the victim of past failures as well as the author of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the core and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.