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Prime Minister Starmer visited Wales' northern region this past Thursday to announce the construction of a fresh nuclear energy facility. This is a major policy announcement with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not devote extensive time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's energy needs. Rather, he used the time attempting to put an end to the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, informing reporters that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary's goals earlier this week.

As such, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. On the one hand, he desires his administration to be performing, and to be perceived as performing, significant actions. On the other hand, he is incapable to achieve this due to the way he – and, partly, the country more generally – now practices politics and government.

The Prime Minister is unable to change the political culture on his own, but he is able to take action about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could manage the government's core far better than he currently does. If he did this, he could discover that the nation was in less dismay about his government than it is, and that he was getting his messages across more successfully.

Staffing Issues in Downing Street

Some of the issues in Downing Street 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 up his game, avoid slow progress or by halves.

• He dithered about giving 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 been frequently replaced.
• Political and policy advisers have entered and exited.
• The situation is chaotic.

Structural Challenges at the Core of Government

All premiers spend too much time overseas and on international matters, areas where Sir Keir ought to assign more tasks, and too little talking to MPs and listening to the public. Prime ministers also spend too much time engaging with the press, which Sir Keir compounds by doing it poorly. Yet leaders cannot express surprise when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or ambitious in politics, cross lines or become the story, as the chief of staff has recently.

The most significant problems, though, are systemic. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir reviewed the Institute for Government’s spring 2024 report on overhauling the government's central operations. His failure to grip these issues in the summer or since implies he did not. The frequently dismal performance of Labour’s time in office indicates recommendations like restructuring the roles of the Cabinet Office and No 10, and dividing the jobs of top official and head of the civil service, are currently critical.

The political pre-eminence of prime ministers greatly exceeds the support available to them. As a result, all aspects suffer, and many tasks are poorly executed or ignored.

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He is the casualty of previous shortcomings along with the architect 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 disappointed. Unfortunately, the primary casualty from this failure is Sir Keir himself.