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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to Wales' northern region this past Thursday to reveal the construction of a new nuclear power station. This is a major policy announcement with implications at local and countrywide levels. However, the prime minister did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to promoting solutions for the UK's power requirements. Instead, he used the time trying to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling journalists that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day acted as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become overall. Firstly, he desires his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this due to the way he – and, partly, the country more generally – now practices political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister is unable to transform the culture of politics on his own, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could run the government's core far better than he currently does. Should he achieve this, he could discover that the country was in less despair about his government than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more effectively.

Staffing Issues in No 10

Some of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of any No 10 regime are hard to know 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. But he needs to up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He hesitated about assigning the key job of top civil servant to Chris Wormald.
• He made a former official his top aide, then replaced her with a political strategist.
• He brought a Treasury figure in from the finance ministry as his chief secretary.
• His communications chiefs have been frequently replaced.
• Advisors on politics and policy have come and gone.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Heart of Government

Every prime minister spend too much time abroad and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to parliamentarians and listening to the public. Premiers also spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the story, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The biggest issues, though, are structural. It would be beneficial to think that Sir Keir reviewed the a think tank's spring 2024 report on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues last July or afterward implies he did not. The frequently dismal performance of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like reorganizing the functions of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and dividing the jobs of top official and civil service head, are now urgent.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers far outdistances the assistance provided to them. As a result, everything currently suffers, and much is done badly or neglected.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the casualty of past failures along with the architect of present ones. But those who hoped 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 personally.