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Prime Minister Starmer visited north Wales on Thursday to declare the construction of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the PM did not devote extensive time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he spent it trying to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing reporters that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary's goals in recent days.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his premiership has now become more generally. Firstly, he wants his government to be performing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this due to the way he – and, partly, the nation more generally – now practices political and governmental affairs.

Sir Keir is unable to change the culture of politics single-handedly, but he is able to do something about his personal involvement in it. The plain fact is that he could manage 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 currently is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Personnel Problems in No 10

A number of the issues in Number 10 relate to individuals. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are difficult to discern accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Perhaps he is too busy. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to improve his performance, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of cabinet secretary to a senior official.
• He appointed 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 chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Core of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on international matters, where Sir Keir should delegate more, and too little conversing with MPs and hearing the public. Prime ministers 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 loyalists or politically ambitious, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as the chief of staff has recently.

The biggest issues, however, are structural. It would be beneficial to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues in the summer or since implies he did not. The often abject experience of the Labour administration indicates IfG proposals like restructuring the functions of the Cabinet 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 neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the victim of previous shortcomings along with the architect of present ones. Yet individuals who expected Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been let down. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.