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Prime Minister Starmer visited Wales' northern region on Thursday to announce the construction of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the prime minister did not devote much time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's energy needs. Instead, he spent it trying to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, informing reporters that Downing Street had not undermined the health secretary's goals in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a small-scale example of what his prime ministership has evolved into overall. On the one hand, he wants his administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, important things. Conversely, he is unable to achieve this because of the way he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir cannot change the political culture on his own, 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 much more effectively than he does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the nation was in less despair 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 problems in Number 10 are about personnel. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are hard to know well from outside. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He dithered about giving the crucial role of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his top aide, then substituted her with Morgan McSweeney.
• He recruited a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His media advisors have been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers 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 international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and insufficient time conversing with parliamentarians and hearing the public. Prime ministers also allocate too much time doing media, which Sir Keir compounds by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who are often party activists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are systemic. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s March 2024 study on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues in the summer or afterward suggests he did not. The often abject experience of Labour’s time in office suggests recommendations like restructuring the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and separating the positions of cabinet secretary and head of the civil service, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of prime ministers greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. Consequently, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the victim of previous shortcomings along with the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.