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Sir Keir Starmer traveled to north Wales this past Thursday to declare the development of a new nuclear power station. This represents a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. Yet, the PM did not dedicate extensive time in Wales to advocating answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he used the time trying to put an end to the Labour leadership briefing row, 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 evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. Conversely, he is unable to accomplish this because of the manner he – and, to an extent, the nation more generally – now practices politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the political culture single-handedly, but he can take action about his personal involvement in it. The simple truth is that he could manage the centre of government far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the country was in less despair about his administration than it currently is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

Some of the problems in Downing Street relate to personnel. The interpersonal relations of every Downing Street operation are hard to know well from outside. But it seems obvious that Sir Keir fails to make sound staffing decisions, or stick with them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. However, he must to improve his performance, avoid slow progress or incompletely.

• He dithered about assigning the key job of cabinet secretary to Chris Wormald.
• He made Sue Gray his top aide, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the finance ministry as his deputy.
• His communications chiefs have chopped and changed.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Systemic Issues at the Core of the Administration

All premiers devote excessive time abroad and on foreign affairs, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and insufficient time conversing with parliamentarians and hearing the citizens. Premiers also spend too much time doing media, which Sir Keir worsens by doing it poorly. But premiers cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who are often party activists or ambitious in politics, overstep boundaries or become the focus, as Mr McSweeney has recently.

The biggest issues, however, are systemic. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 study on reforming the government's central operations. His inability to grip these issues in the summer or afterward suggests he did not. The frequently dismal experience of Labour’s time in office suggests IfG proposals like restructuring the roles of the central government office and Downing Street, and dividing the jobs of cabinet secretary and civil service head, are now urgent.

The dominant political role of PMs greatly exceeds the assistance provided to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and much is done badly or neglected.

This is not Sir Keir’s sole responsibility. He stands as the victim of previous shortcomings as well as the author of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir might get a grip on the centre and prioritize governmental structures have been disappointed. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir personally.