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Prime Minister Starmer traveled to north Wales on Thursday to reveal the building of a new nuclear power station. This represents a significant policy event with both local and national implications. However, the PM did not dedicate much time in Wales to promoting answers for the UK's power requirements. Rather, he used the time attempting to draw a line under the briefing controversy within Labour's leadership, telling reporters that Downing Street had not briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.

Therefore, Sir Keir’s day served as a microcosm of what his prime ministership has evolved into more generally. Firstly, he desires his administration to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. Conversely, he is incapable to achieve this due to the manner he – and, partly, the nation as a whole – now conducts political and governmental affairs.

The Prime Minister is unable to transform the political culture single-handedly, but he can do something about his own role in it. The plain fact is that he could run the centre of government far better than he does. If he did this, he might find that the nation was in less dismay about his administration than it is, and that he was communicating his points more successfully.

Personnel Problems in No 10

Some of the issues in Number 10 relate to personnel. The personal dynamics of every Downing Street operation are hard to know accurately from the exterior. Yet it appears clear that Sir Keir fails to make good personnel choices, or maintain them. Maybe he is overly occupied. Perhaps he is not really interested. But he needs to up his game, not do things slowly or by halves.

• He dithered about assigning the crucial role of top civil servant to a senior official.
• He appointed Sue Gray his chief of staff, then substituted her with a political strategist.
• He brought Darren Jones in from the Treasury as his chief secretary.
• His media advisors have chopped and changed.
• Advisors on politics and policy have entered and exited.
• It is a mess.

Structural Challenges at the Core of the Administration

Every prime minister spend too much time overseas and on foreign affairs, where Sir Keir should delegate more, 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 worsens by performing inadequately. Yet leaders cannot claim to be surprised when their politically appointed staff, who are often party loyalists or politically ambitious, cross lines or become the focus, as the chief of staff now has.

The most significant problems, though, are structural. It would be good to believe that Sir Keir read the a think tank's March 2024 study on reforming the government's central operations. His failure to address these matters last July or since suggests he did not. The frequently dismal performance of Labour’s time in office suggests recommendations like reorganizing the roles of the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, and dividing the jobs of top official and civil service head, are currently critical.

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

This isn't Sir Keir’s fault alone. He stands as the victim of past failures as well as the architect of present ones. But those who hoped Sir Keir would take control of the centre and take the machinery of government seriously have been disappointed. Sadly, the primary casualty from this shortcoming is Sir Keir himself.